The transtheoretical model: Gender differences across 3 health behaviors

Objective: To investigate gender differences in stage-of-change distribution, self-efficacy, and decisional balance, for 3 health behaviors. Methods: Five hundred fifty-four (males = 107; females = 447) low-income, predominantly African American, patients completed stage-of- change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance scales for smoking cessation, exercise adoption, and dietary fat reduction. Results: Males and females differ in stage of change for smoking and exercise, but not dietary fat intake. Conclusions: Gender-specific interventions may be needed to promote certain health behaviors but not others, and self-efficacy and decisional balance may be related differently to stage of change in low-income populations.