Applying cognitive-social theory to health-protective behavior: Breast self-examination in cancer screening.

This article applies recent developments in cognitive-social theory to health-protective b havior, articulating a Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing (C-SHIP) model. This model of the genesis and maintenance ofhealth-protective b havior focuses on the individuals encodings and construals, expectancies, affects, goals and values, self-regulatory competencies, and their interac-tions with each other and the health-relevant i formation i the course of cognitive-affective pro-cessing. In processing health information, individuals are assumed to differ in both the accessibility of these mental representations and the organization of relationships among them. In this article, the model is applied to analyze and integrate he often-confusing findings on breast self-examination in cancer screening. Implications are considered for assessments and interventions to enhance adher-ence to complex, long-term, health-protective regimens, tailored to the needs and characteristics of the individual. There has been an explosion of interest and research in health psychology in the last decade, fueled by the excitement of suc-cessfully applying basic psychological concepts to understand how people deal with health challenges (e.g., Baum Singer,