Health Insurance Status, Psychological Processes, and Older African Americans' Use of Preventive Care

Authors

Catherine Walker O'Neal, University of GeorgiaFollow
Kandauda A.S. Wickrama, University of GeorgiaFollow
Penny A. Ralston, Florida State UniversityFollow
Jasminka Z. Elich, Florida State UniversityFollow
Cynthia M. Harris, Florida A&M UniversityFollow
Catherine Coccia, Texas A&M UniversityFollow
Iris Young-Clark, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Jennifer Lemacks, University of Southern MississippiFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2014

Department

Nutrition and Food Systems

Abstract

The current study examined the influence of health insurance, psychological processes (i.e. psychological competency and vulnerability), and the interaction of these two constructs on older African Americans' utilization of five preventive care services (e.g. cholesterol screening and mammogram/prostate examination) using data from 211 older African Americans (median age = 60). In addition to direct effects, the influence of health insurance sometimes varied depending on respondents' psychological competency and/or vulnerability. Policies and interventions to increase older African Americans' use of preventive health services should consider structural (e.g. health insurance) and psychological (e.g. psychological competency and vulnerability) factors along with the interaction between these factors.

Comments

Publisher's Version

Publication Title

Journal of Health Psychology

Volume

19

Issue

4

First Page

491

Last Page

502

Recommended Citation

O'Neal, C. W., Wickrama, K. A., Ralston, P. A., Elich, J. Z., Harris, C. M., Coccia, C., Young-Clark, I., Lemacks, J. (2014). Health Insurance Status, Psychological Processes, and Older African Americans' Use of Preventive Care. Journal of Health Psychology, 19(4), 491-502.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/8058