Transcript Partner perspective on actor

Bringing the Relationship
into Health Behavior Change:
A Dyadic Approach to the
Theory of Planned Behavior
Maryhope Howland, Allison Farrell, Jeffry A.
Simpson, Alexander J. Rothman, Rachel J.Burns,
Jennifer Fillo, & Jhon Wlaschin
Relationships & Health
• Romantic relationships and markers of physical
health (Stadler, Snyder, Horn, Shrout, & Bolger, 2012;Robles, Slatcher,
Trombello, & McGinn, 2014)
•
•
•
•
Blood pressure
Heart rate variability
Immune response
Hospital stays and recovery times
• What about health behaviors?
Traditional Models of Health
Behavior Change
• Intrapersonal factors
• Personality
• Attitudes
• Self-control
• e.g. Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985),
Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974)
Traditional Models of Health
Behavior Change
• Intrapersonal
• Personality
• Attitudes
• Self-control
• e.g. Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985),
Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974)
AttitudesA
Subjective
NormsA
IntentionsA
BEHAVIOR
Perceived
Behavioral
ControlA
AttitudesP
Subjective
NormsP
Perceived
Behavioral
ControlP
IntentionsP
AttitudesA
Subjective
NormsA
IntentionsA
Perceived
Behavioral
ControlA
Relationship
CharacteristicsA
AttitudesP
Subjective
NormsP
Perceived
Behavioral
ControlP
Partner
PerspectivePA
IntentionsP
Hypotheses
1. Dyadic TPB: Partners TPB variables will
predict actor intentions, above and beyond
actor predictors
2. Partner perspective on actor: Partner’s
perspective on the actor will predict actor
intentions above and beyond the dyadic TPB
3. Relationship moderator: High relationship
quality will amplify partner effects
Participants & Method
200 Heterosexual committed couples (400 individuals)
Relationship
Length
Mean= 4.62 yrs. (sd = 5.47)
Age
Mean = 26.26 yrs. (sd = 8.48)
Ethnicity
82% White; 8.7% Asian/Asian American; 4.3% Other;
2.5% Black; 2.5% Hispanic
Marital Status 21% married/engaged
• Measures completed online privately at home
or in the lab
Measures
• 2 versions of questionnaires (gender-specific)
based on TPB constructs
• Based on Ajzen, 2015
• Attitudes, Social norms, Perceived behavioral
control (PBC)
• Actor behavioral intentions
• Relationship Quality
• Perceived Relationships Quality Components scale
(PRQC; Fletcher, Simpson, & Thomas, 2000; α
=.97)
Measures- Actor/Partner TPB
“For each of the following questions, we are
interested in your thoughts about your behavior and
beliefs”
• Attitudes: “In my opinion, my being regularly physically active
is:” (4 items, e.g. very bad-very good; α =.80)
• Social Norms: e.g. “During a typical month how physically
active are people similar to you?” (3 items, α =.47)
• PBC: “I believe I have complete control over how physically
active I am”
Measures- Perceived Partner TPB
“For the next set of questions, try to think about what
you think and feel about your partner. Specifically,
we are interested in your thoughts about your
partner’s behaviors and beliefs”
• Attitudes: “In my opinion, my partner’s being regularly
physically active is:” (4 items, e.g. very bad-very good; α =.87)
• Social Norms: e.g. “During a typical month how physically
active are people similar to your partner?” (3 items, α =.51
• PBC: “I believe my partner has complete control over how
physically active she is.”
RESULTS
H1: The dyadic TPB
Traditional TPB
Partner TPB
Actor x Actor
Actor x Partner
H2: What about a partner’s
perspectives on the actor?
Traditional TPB
Partner
perceptions of
actor
H3: What about relationship
quality?
Traditional TPB
Partner
Perceptions
of Actor
Relationship
Quality
Actor RQ x Partner Perceptions of Actor
Traditional TPB
Partner
perceptions
of actor
Relationship
Quality
Conclusions & Future Directions
• A dyadic perspective can:
• Increase predictive power of these models
• Provide theoretical foundation for partners influence
• Future directions:
• Extend to health behavior
• Other actor x partner interactions, relationship
characteristics, health behaviors
• Changes in these models over the course of a
relationship, different relationship stages
• Other traditional individual-based models of change
THANK YOU
• Co-authors: Allie Farrel, Jeff Simpson, Alex
Rothman, Rachel Burns, Jen Fillo, & Jhon
Wlaschin
• Our many research assistants
• Participants
• Traci Mann and the UMN Relationships &
Health research group