The Journal of

  Background: Threat appraisal process in Protection Motivation Theory evaluates the factors associated with the behavior that potentially creates danger, including the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards accompanying the behavior, the severity of the danger, and ones vulnerability to it. Coping appraisal is a cognitive mediating process which evaluates one's ability to cope with or to avert threatened danger including perceived self efficacy, response efficacy and perceived costs of protective behavior. There are some evidences regarding their effects on intention and behavior of some safety areas but there isn’t any study on intention and behavior of Nutritional Prevention of Cancer . The purpose of this study was to compare Coping Appraisal and Threat Appraisal in predicting Nutritional Prevention of Cancer behaviors and intention among Women in Yazd city.

  Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total number of 220 w omen referring to health centers - therapy were studied . A valid and reliable questionnaire was used for data collection. It was a self-report questionnaire including demographic variables and subscales for measuring coping appraisal, threat appraisal, Nutritional Prevention of Cancer intention and behavior. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined and approved. The data were then analyzed using SPSS software and ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and Liner Regression statistical tests.

  Results: There was a significant negative correlation between threat appraisal and intention and Nutritional behavior Prevention of Cancer and positive significant correlation between coping appraisal and intention and Nutritional behavior Prevention of Cancer at 0.01 level. Coping and threat appraisal both predicted %23/2 of variance in Nutritional behavior Prevention of Cancer in which the coping appraisal (ß=0 . 28) exceeded the threat appraisal (ß=0.24). The prediction of variances in Nutritional behavior Prevention of Cancer intention through coping Appraisal and Threat Appraisal came to 28/4%. Only coping appraisal was statistically significant.

  Conclusion: Cognitive mediating process of coping appraisal was a more powerful predictor of intention than Nutritional behavior Prevention of Cancer . Therefore decreasing perceived cost, and increasing self efficacy and response efficacy aimed at facilitating the acceptance of safe behavior could be note-worthy as a principle in education.