The influence of pre-motivational factors on behavior via motivational factors: a test of the I-Change model

Abstract

Background The I-Change Model for explaining motivational and behavioral change postulates that an awareness phase precedes the motivation phase of a person, and that effects of pre-motivational factors on behavior are partially mediated by motivational factors. This study tests this assumption with regard to physical activity. Methods Observational longitudinal survey study (baseline, three months, six months) amongst Dutch adults ( N = 2434). Structural equation modelling was used to investigate whether the influence of (1) knowledge, (2) cognizance, (3) cues, and (4) risk perception separately on intention and physical activity were mediated by motivational factors (i.e. attitudes, self-efficacy and social influence). Subsequently, a comprehensive model including all pre-motivational factors was estimated to test the same assumption for all pre-motivational factors simultaneously. Results The results indicate that the associations of cognizance, risk perception and cues with behavior were fully mediated by motivational factors when tested separately. When tested simultaneously only the effect of cognizance remained. Cognizance was most strongly associated with positive attitudes β = .13, p < .01, self-efficacy β = .13, p < .01, and intention β = .14, p < .01. No direct link with behavior was found. Conclusion The results suggest that pre-motivational factors are important to form a motivation; however, they do not directly influence behavior. The inclusion of factors such as risk perception and cognizance would help to get a better understanding of motivation formation and behavior.

Exploring and improving treatment adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using eHealth

“…Awareness factors such as knowledge, and motivational factors such as attitudes and selfefficacy are known to be precursors of an intention one has towards performing a behavior (45). It seemed that the intention to recruit patients of non-and low-recruiters was insufficiently grounded, as they showed poor study knowledge, few advantageous beliefs towards recruiting patients, and considerable recruitment barriers.…”

“…However, the theory less explicitly dedicates attention to the determinants preceding the formation of motivation. Research has, for instance, shown that factors such as knowledge and risk perceptions may play an important role as factors determining motivational factors such as attitudes and self-efficacy (45). Additionally, only a limited amount of the variance of behavior is explained by intention, and therefore the role of developing and enacting action plans should be addressed in order to understand and change behavior (46)(47)(48)(49)(50).…”

“…an indirect relation to behavior is assumed through factors in the motivational phase. This means that patients first need to become aware of the necessity of behavior change, in order to form motivation (45). Motivational factors in the model include factors also acknowledged by other social cognitive theories such as attitudes, social influences and self-efficacy.…”

Alerta Alcohol

“…an accurate perception) of one's own behaviour (Eggers et al, 2016;de Vries, 2017). Behavioural cognizance concerns the level of a person's awareness about his or her own health behaviour (Kasten, van Osch, Candel, & de Vries, 2019). If a person is aware of the problem, the associated health risks and their (lack of) health behaviour (e.g.…”

“…not engaging in BD), a person will be more motivated to process information about motivational factors (Eggers et al, 2016). Therefore, adolescents need to know the effects of alcohol in order to become aware of the negative effects and the role of their own drinking behaviour (Jander et al, 2013;Kasten et al, 2019). Furthermore, some studies suggest that levels of adolescents' knowledge about what BD is and causes may be suboptimal (Botvin, Griffin, Diaz, & Ifill-Williams, 2001;Jander et al 2013).…”