Mark Lawrence Robbins

• PhD
• Chair at University of Rhode Island

Young adulthood is an important developmental milestone during which individuals could greatly benefit from health promotion tools. Civic engagement has been linked with positive mental health and well-being; however, little is known about civic behavior among young adults who do not attend college. We investigated the relationship between civic en...

Introduction: Vaping is common among young adults in the United States. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) has demonstrated success in smoking cessation efforts; however, it has not been comprehensively applied to vaping cessation, and core TTM vaping measures have not been developed. Method: A cross-sectional survey including measures of stage of ch...

Purpose To redevelop and improve Transtheoretical Model (TTM) exercise measures for Black and Hispanic/Latinx adults. The redeveloped scales will address barriers to exercise potentially relevant to populations of color in the United States (US). Design Cross-sectional, split-half measure development. Setting Online survey in the US. Subjects 45...

Medical care received at end-of-life is often not aligned with individuals’ values and care preferences. Much can get in the way of an individual communicating and documenting their preferences to care providers and close others, even if it is a goal to do so. The objective of this work was to develop a measure of Advance Care Planning Self-Efficac...

University students may have experienced heightened levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, less is known about coping mechanisms (i.e., approach and avoidance) that were used to manage such stress. Further, there is a need to identify groups of students who may have been at elevated risk for stress. The present study examined the a...

Purpose In the United States (US), individuals vary widely in their readiness to get vaccinated for COVID-19. The present study developed measures based on the transtheoretical model (TTM) to better understand readiness, decisional balance (DCBL; pros and cons), self-efficacy (SE), as well as other motivators for change such as myths and barriers f...

Objective Through the lens of behavioral models such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model, the present study (1) investigated U.S. university students’ willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and (2) examined predictors (e.g. demographics, past vaccine experience, TPB constructs) of vaccine willingness. Method Un...

Young adults may benefit from civic engagement as a health promotion tool, as civic engagement is generally associated with positive well-being. However, more information is needed to examine civic engagement among lesser-educated young adults who are least likely to civically engage, and more likely to demonstrate mental health needs. We surveyed...

Researchers have examined civic engagement as a health promotion tool among older adults and adolescents, yet less is known about its mental health implications for young adults. This systematic review identified 53 articles on civic engagement and well-being in young adults. Five key themes emerged: (1) varying associations between type of civic e...

In response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommended preventive health behaviors (e.g., washing hands, using facemasks, social distancing), aimed at slowing the transmission of the virus. The present study examined university students’ normative beliefs as predictors of complia...

Purpose This article is the second in a two-part series on the application of the Transtheoretical Model to stuttering management among adolescents. The purpose of this article was to apply and explore the validity of newly developed Transtheoretical measures for adolescents who stutter. Method The online survey was completed by a national sample...

Purpose This article is the first in a two-part series on the application of the Transtheoretical Model to stuttering management among adolescents. In this article, we describe the process of developing measures to assess stage of change (SOC) by defining behaviors of stuttering management, as well as the two primary cognitive constructs that under...

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been promoted as one way to prepare healthcare students for interprofessional encounters they might experience in the workplace. However, the link between IPE, interprofessional care in the workforce, and better patient outcomes is tenuous, perhaps in part due to the inability of IPE programs to adequately addr...

Purpose Engaging in community service, or unpaid work intended to help people in a community, is generally associated with greater overall well-being. However, the process of beginning and maintaining community service engagement has been sparsely examined. The current study applied the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change to understandi...

Purpose The relationship between civic engagement and mental health is generally positive, yet particularly complex among those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and women. The current study examined pathways between civic engagement and well-being to clarify its merit as a health promotional tool for young adults. Design Cross-sectional design u...

Background. Stress levels among Americans are considerable. This research examined Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) constructs for stress management in groups organized by longitudinal progress (dynatypes): Maintainers, Relapsers, and Stable Non-Changers. Methods. Secondary data analysis of a computer-tailored intervention group exam...

Individually tailoring education over time may help more patients, especially racial/ethnic minorities, get waitlisted and pursue deceased and living donor kidney transplant (DDKT and LDKT, respectively). We enrolled 802 patients pursuing transplant evaluation at the University of California, Los Angeles Transplant Program into a randomized educati...

There is a growing necessity for healthcare professionals to collaborate across disciplines in order to adequately treat patients. Interprofessional education (IPE) is one strategy that can be used to strengthen student attitudes, skill mastery, and preparedness toward working in interprofessional teams prior to joining the healthcare workforce. Th...

Socioeconomic barriers can prevent successful kidney transplant (KT) but are difficult to measure efficiently in clinical settings. We created and validated an individual-level, single score Kidney Transplant Derailers Index (KTDI) and assessed its association with waitlisting and living donor KT (LDKT) rates. Methods: The dataset included 733 pa...

Background: Fertility issues have been found to be an important topic for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. Medical technology has made fertility preservation (FP) increasingly effective for postpubertal patients whose treatment course may inhibit their future ability to achieve biologic parenthood. Oncology providers' recommendatio...

A promising strategy for increasing living donor kidney transplant (LDKT) rates is improving education about living donation for both prospective kidney transplant recipients and living donors to help overcome the proven knowledge, psychological, and socioeconomic barriers to LDKT. A recent Consensus Conference on Best Practices in Live Kidney Dona...

Objectives: To develop and test the acceptability of personalized intervention materials to promote advance care planning (ACP) based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), in which readiness to change is a critical organizing construct. Design: Development study creating an expert system delivering TTM-personalized feedback reports and stage-matc...

This research examined dynamic transtheoretical model (TTM) constructs for adopting sun protection practices. This secondary data analysis pooled four large population-based TTM-tailored intervention studies and examined use of constructs across three groups, organized by longitudinal progress: maintainers, relapsers, and stable non-changers. A tot...

Living donor kidney transplant is the ideal treatment option for end-stage renal disease; however, the decision to pursue living donor kidney transplant is complex and challenging. Measurement invariance of living donor kidney transplant Decisional Balance and Self-Efficacy across gender (male/female), race (Black/White), and education level (no co...

Background: Because of the deceased donor organ shortage, more kidney patients are considering whether to receive kidneys from family and friends, a process called living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Although Blacks and Hispanics are 3.4 and 1.5 times more likely, respectively, to develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) than Whites, they ar...

Introduction: A pilot test of a computer-tailored intervention designed to promote blood donation among Blacks was conducted. Method: Intervention content, based on the transtheoretical model, offered participants individually and culturally tailored information on blood donation with emphasis on need specific to race (e.g., sickle-cell disease)...

Background: An evaluation of pediatric practices in the Northeast revealed that there were inconsistencies in the screening and treatment of pediatric mental health problems. Objective: To study the role of electronic medical records (EMR) in the early identification and treatment of mental health issues among children in a primary care setting....

While educational interventions to increase patient motivation to pursue living donor kidney transplant have shown success in increasing living donor kidney transplant rates, there are no validated, theoretically consistent measures of Stage of Change, a measure of readiness to pursue living donor kidney transplant; Decisional Balance, a weighted a...

Longitudinal predictors of dietary behavior change are important and in need of study. This secondary data analysis combined primary data across three randomized trials to examine transtheoretical model (TTM) and specific dietary predictors of successful dietary change at 12 and 24months separately in treatment and control groups (N=4178). The trea...

Discusses the use of transtheoretical model for population-based approaches to health promotion and disease prevention. The author states that health behaviors (tobacco use, diet, physical inactivity, risky sexual practices, etc.) account for approximately 50% of all premature mortality. There is growing evidence that the behavioral determinants of...

BACKGROUND: Blacks have significantly lower blood donation rates than whites. Many views, experiences, and behaviors associated with blood donation are unique to black culture. Evidence suggests that culturally tailored health promotion programs help with increasing black blood donation. To be effective, tailored interventions should be based on va...

Purpose African-Americans have high rates of physical inactivity-related morbidity and mortality, thus effective interventions to increase exercise are necessary. Tailored interventions show promise, but measures need validation in this population. This study validated transtheoretical model measures for exercise in an African-American sample. Des...

This study compared, in treatment and control groups, the phenomena of coaction, which is the probability that taking effective action on one behavior is related to taking effective action on a second behavior. Pooled data from three randomized trials of Transtheoretical Model (TTM) tailored interventions (n=9461), completed in the U.S. in 1999, we...

To develop measures representing key constructs of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change as applied to advance care planning (ACP) and to examine whether associations between these measures replicate the relationships posited by the TTM. Sequential scale development techniques were used to develop measures for Decisional Balance (Pros...

To examine agreement between older persons and their surrogates regarding participation in advance care planning (ACP). Observational cohort study. Community. Persons aged 65 and older and the individual they identified as most likely to make treatment decisions on their behalf. Older persons were asked about participation in four activities: compl...

This cross-sectional study (N = 4,144) compared three longitudinal dynatypes (Maintainers, Relapsers, and Stable Smokers) of smokers on baseline demographics, stage, addiction severity, and transtheoretical model effort effect variables. There were significant small-to-medium-sized differences between the Stable Smokers and the other two groups on...

To develop stages-of-change measures for advance care planning (ACP), conceptualized as a group of interrelated but separate behaviors, and to use these measures to characterize older persons' engagement in and factors associated with readiness to participate in ACP. Observational cohort study. Community. Persons aged 65 and older recruited from ph...

In order to sustain life, patients whose kidneys fail must receive dialysis or obtain a transplant. This study reports on the development and validation of measures of Stage of Change, Decisional Balance and Self-efficacy based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) to assess patients' readiness to receive a deceased donor transplant. We surveyed 293...

This study was designed to assess if there are consistent treatment, stage, severity, effort and demographic effects which predict long-term changes across the multiple behaviors of smoking, diet and sun exposure. A secondary data analysis integrated data from four studies on smoking cessation (N = 3927), three studies on diet (N = 4824) and four s...

Despite a specific need for transfused blood among African Americans due to higher rates of sickle cell disease, African Americans donate blood significantly less frequently than their White counterparts. This study describes the development and validation of culturally adapted measures of the transtheoretical model (TTM) constructs of Stage of Cha...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the consistency of responses to a standardized 2-part "key" question (Key-Q) about acute symptom onset in patients presenting with chest pain when measured using alternative questions (Qs) about symptom perception and decisions to seek treatment. METHODS: A structured patient interview was performed at 3 university teaching...

Although the need for transplantation among African Americans is high, their donation rates are disproportionately low. This study describes the development and validation of culturally adapted psychosocial measures, including Transtheoretical Model constructs, Stages of Change, Decisional Balance, and Self-efficacy, related to deceased organ and t...

Purpose This article reports on the development of a decisional balance measure based on the transtheoretical model (TTM) for stress management among adolescents. Design Measurement development was conducted with participants of a pilot survey. Setting Surveys were completed in health and physical education classes. Subjects Ninth and tenth grad...

Zusammenfassung. Trotz einer uberwiegend positiven Einstellung zur Organspende besitzen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland lediglich etwa 12% der Bevolkerung einen Organspendeausweis. Somit besteht eine starke Diskrepanz zwischen der Anzahl benotigter und zur Verfugung stehender Spenderorgane. Anknupfend an erste Arbeiten im amerikanischen Raum geht...

This study assessed the applicability of two important components of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) to family consent for cadaveric organ donation. Men and women (N = 169), who consented or refused to donate the organs of a family member, completed a telephone survey reflecting the stage of change and decisional balance constru...

Personal risk perceptions of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) affect people's preventive health behaviors as well as their beliefs during a heart attack episode. The authors investigated factors that are associated with personal risk perceptions of having an AMI. A random-digit-dial survey was conducted among 1294 respondents, aged 18 years or old...

To inform intervention development in a multisite randomized community trial, the Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment (REACT) project formative research was undertaken for the purpose of investigating the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions, and usual practice of health care professionals. A total of 24 key informant interviews of cardiologists a...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the leading cause of mortality in the U.S. Innovations in reperfusion therapies can potentially reduce CHD morbidity and mortality associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) when treatment is initiated within the first few hours of symptom onset. However, delay in seeking treatment for AMI is unacceptably...

To determine the consistency of responses to a standardized 2-part "key" question (Key-Q) about acute symptom onset in patients presenting with chest pain when measured using alternative questions (Qs) about symptom perception and decisions to seek treatment. A structured patient interview was performed at 3 university teaching hospitals and 1 comm...

The present study demonstrates that potent mental stress, such as that produced in response to the simulated public speaking task, results in an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and vasoconstriction of normal coronary artery segments in patients with and without angiographically demonstrable coronary artery disease.

Thesis (B.S.) in Liberal Arts and Sciences--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1984. Bibliography: leaves 35-36. Microfiche of typescript.