title: Examining antecedents of caregivers' access to early childhood developmental screening: implications for campaigns promoting use of services in Appalachian Ohio.
abstract: Although developmental delays are common in the United States, only about one third of developmental delays are identified before a child enters school. As challenging as use of developmental screening is on a national basis, the Appalachian region faces extreme lack of screening, diagnosis, and treatment for developmental delay. Local health care providers attribute this lack to poor parent understanding and have called for communication interventions to educate caregivers. This investigation sought to understand the antecedents of Appalachian caregivers' intentions to access developmental screening and services for their children as formative research for a communication-based intervention. The investigation was grounded by the health belief model. Surveys completed by 366 caregivers were used to model antecedents to behavioral intention. Perceived severity, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy were found to be the strongest predictors of intention to access developmental screening. Implications for a communication-based intervention are provided.
authors.affiliation: 1Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Striley
authors.forename: Spencer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Aarti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamel-Lambert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009820:Ohio; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: behavior change; child/adolescent health; formative evaluation; health promotion; program planning and evaluation; rural health