Applicability of the pregnancy identity model in predicting attitudes and intentions about prenatal care among hispanic women in Utah

The literature suggests two categories of barriers that may explain inadequate utilization of prenatal care (PNC): structural barriers within the environment and nonstructural or personal barriers. Most literature to date focuses on structural barriers; little has been done to understand women's attitudes and intentions that affect PNC utilization. The purpose of this thesis is to test the applicability of the Pregnancy Identity Model (PIM) as an instrument to predict attitudes and intentions about PNC in a predominantly Hispanic population in Utah. The PIM has proven to be a useful instrument in understanding the relationship between attitudes and intentions about PNC among non-Hispanic White and Black women in Missouri. The PIM predicts that pregnancy identity (including suspecting pregnancy, discussing the pregnancy with significant others and accepting the pregnancy) predicts a woman's attitudes and beliefs about PNC. 'Attitudes about PNC,' combined with social norms in turn predict a woman's 'Intentions for PNC.' A structured questionnaire of 95 Likert-type response statements was used to measure the components of the PIM through interviews with 132 women, primarily Hispanic, who were receiving PNC. Data reduction was performed by principal components and factor analysis followed by varimax rotation. Factor scores were estimated and then used in linear regression analyses to compare relationships between the constructs of the PIM. Factor analysis failed to confirm the expected factor, 'Communication and support of provider,' but did support a new factor, 'Anticipation of becoming a parent.' 'Perception of structural barriers' was also included in the analysis as a predictor of 'Intention for PNC.' Other components of the PIM were confirmed as expected based on previous research. A final linear model with 'Intention for PNC' as the dependent variable had a positive adjusted R ² of .591. 'Attitudes about PNC' was the strongest contributor to the model.