Busy lifestyles and mammography screening: time pressure and women's reattendance likelihood

Stephen L Brown, Triecia Maree Gibney, Rachel Tarling

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Time pressure is often cited as a reason for non-attendance at mammography screening, although evidence from other areas of psychology suggests that time pressure can improve performance when barriers such as time pressure provide a challenge. We predicted that time pressure would negatively predict attendance in women whose self-efficacy for overcoming time pressure is low, but positively predict attendance when self-efficacy is high. Time pressure was operationalised as the self-reported number of dependent children and others, and average number of working hours per week. Australian women were surveyed after being invited to attend second or subsequent screenings at a free public screening service, and subsequent attendance monitored until six months after screening was due. The majority (87.5 ) attended screening. Women with more dependent children and higher self-efficacy showed greater attendance likelihood, and women with fewer non-child dependants and lower self-efficacy were less likely to attend. Working hours did not predict attendance. Findings provide partial support for the idea that time pressure acts as a challenge for women with high self-efficacy.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)928 - 938
Number of pages11
JournalPsychology and Health
Volume28
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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