Figure 1.

Conceptual Framework: Application of the Expanded Health Belief Model to Reproductive and Environmental Health (EHBM).

The conceptual framework of this study was based on the EHBM, a widely used model for explaining change and maintenance of health behavior. The EHBM components include perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action, self-efficacy, and modifying factors. This framework asserts that an individual’s decision to change behaviors (such as taking steps to mitigate his or her exposure to reproductive toxicants in the environment or participating in environmental or reproductive health research) is the result of “cost–benefit” analyses and the individual’s level of self-efficacy.