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Running in the Family or Swimming in the Gene Pool

Discriminating between Family History and Genetic Risk in Illness Perceptions

Southwestern University, USA

Traci A. Giuliano

Southwestern University, USA, giuliant{at}southwestern.edu

The present study sought to understand how the genetic component of a disease affects individual's risk perceptions. Specifically, participants read three scenarios that asked them to imagine that they had either genetic, ambiguous, of no family history for a hypothetical disease and to imagine that their parents' lifestyles were either healthy or unhealthy. As expected, when participants received an ambiguous family history (rather than a genetic history or no family history), they rated a healthy diet and exercise as more effective at preventing the disease when their parents lifestyles were discribed as unhealthy rather than healthy (N = 97)

Key Words: Risk perceptions • illness perceptions • perceived control • family history • genetic risk

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Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 12, No. 6, 883-894 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1359105307082452


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Riggs, A. L. Articles by Giuliano, T. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Riggs, A. L. Articles by Giuliano, T. A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?