The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Help Evasion

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between self-efficacy and not wanting help to change health behaviors. METHOD: All employees in the Danish police department were invited to respond to an electronic questionnaire. All respondents expressing a desire to change health behaviors in relation to smoking (n = 845), alcohol (n = 684), eating (n = 4431), and physical activity (n = 5179) and who subsequently responded to questions on self-efficacy were included. RESULTS: Both the bivariate and multiple regression analyses showed that all four specific self-efficacy scores were positively related to reporting that one did not want help. CONCLUSION: A high belief in one's own ability to change lifestyle behaviors in relation to smoking, alcohol, eating, and physical activity may lead to avoidance of help offers in a workplace setting.