Background: Pregnancy is often associated with a change in health behaviors, leading some to suggest that pregnancy could be a teachable moment for lifestyle change. However, the prevalence and underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is not well understood. The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence of a teachable moment during pregnancy, the psychosocial factors that are associated with experiencing such a moment, and its association with actual health behaviors.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 343 pregnant Dutch women completed an online questionnaire. Participants reported on their intentions to change lifestyle due to pregnancy, their current health behaviors, and several psychosocial factors that were assumed to be linked to perceiving a teachable moment during pregnancy: perceived risk, affective impact, changed self-concept, and social support. Multivariable linear and logistic regression were applied to the data analysis.
Results: Results demonstrate that 56% of the women experienced a teachable moment based on intentions to change their health behavior. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that changed self-concept (β = 0.21; CI = 0.11-0.31), positive affect (positive β = 0.28; CI = 0.21-0.48), and negative affect (β = 0.12; CI = 0.00-0.15) were associated with higher intentions to change health behavior. Conversely, more perceived risk was associated with lower intentions to change health behavior (β=-0.29; CI = 0.31 - 0.13). Multivariate regression analyses showed a positive association between intentions to change health behavior and diet quality (β = 0.11; CI = 0.82-1.64) and physical activity (OR = 2.88; CI = 1.66-5.00).
Conclusions: This study suggests that pregnancy may be experienced as a teachable moment, therefore providing an important window of opportunity for healthcare professionals to efficiently improve health behaviors and health in pregnant women and their children. Results suggest that healthcare professionals should link communication about pregnancy-related health behaviors to a pregnant women's change in identity, affective impact (predominantly positive affective impact) and risk perception to stimulate the motivation to change healthy behavior positively.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06348-8 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Key Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Epidemiology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300060, China.
Positive results from cancer screenings, like a cancer diagnosis, can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality due to heightened psychological stress. However, positive screening results may also serve as a teachable moment to encourage the adoption of a healthier lifestyle. Consequently, the overall association between positive screenings and CVD mortality risk remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Nutr Sci
January 2025
Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
Children's eating habits are established early in life and parents play a major role therein. Pregnancy is a teachable moment for the promotion of healthy eating because many women are concerned about their babies' health and have frequent contact with healthcare providers. We aimed to investigate the association between diet quality during pregnancy and the offspring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
December 2024
Law, Policing and Criminology Department, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK.
Currently, women make up only 5% of the prison population, with 3604 women in prison in the UK compared to 74,981 men. Risky drinking is highly prevalent in both the male and female prison population, however, significantly more females drink in a risky way prior to prison (24% compared to 18% of men). In addition to risky drinking, those entering the criminal justice system (CJS), particularly women, are more likely to suffer from inequalities in society.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
November 2024
Biostatistics, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
Background Preventive measures are critical in avoiding and limiting the severity of diseases. Key lifestyle behaviors include sleep hygiene, habitual exercise, a healthy diet, and avoidance of risky substances, particularly the use of tobacco. The transtheoretical model (TTM) of change suggests that patients can move towards healthful changes through education.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrev Med
December 2024
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Department of Medicine, and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Background: Lung cancer screening (LCS) offers a teachable moment for smoking cessation. This study assesses whether individual- or neighborhood-level SES is associated with tobacco abstinence and completion of a smoking cessation intervention in the LCS context.
Methods: Secondary analysis of a clinical trial (NCT03611881) that tested the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatment for smokers scheduled for LCS (N = 615) in eastern Massachusetts, USA from 2019 to 2024.
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