Protection Motivation Theory and exercise behaviour change for the prevention of heart disease in a high-risk, Australian representative community sample of adults

This study developed psychometric scales to measure the main components of Rogers' (1983) Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) along with a stage of change measure to examine exercise behavior towards the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). The study was conducted with two representative community samples ( N = 800) characteristic of high rates of CHD in New South Wales, Australia. Overall, PMT's coping appraisal component of self-efficacy and response efficacy produced stronger positive significant associations with exercise outcome measures than the theory's threat components. Health education should mainly focus on positive coping messages to motivate adults of the community to initiate and maintain exercise behaviour for the prevention of CHD.