Information—Motivation—Behavioral Skills Model
Definition
Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills Model is a multivariate behavioral science framework that conceptualizes the determinants and dynamics of health risk and preventive behavior in terms of three core components: accurate information about transmission and prevention, personal and social motivation to act, and the behavioral skills required to perform preventive actions effectively. The model has been applied in the context of the HIV pandemic and provides the foundation for a generalized model of pandemic risk and prevention. The pandemic-specific articulation of the model is designed to apply across diverse pandemic scenarios, different populations and cultures, and varying arrays of preventive behaviors, such as vaccination uptake, face mask use, social distancing, and antiviral treatment. The model operates at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels and is intended to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of behavior change interventions that can be deployed proactively from the outset of a pandemic.
Sources: Fisher & Fisher (2023)
Related Terms
- intervention (1 shared article)
- prevention (1 shared article)
- COVID-19 (1 shared article)
- Next pandemic (1 shared article)
- health behavior change (1 shared article)
Applications
Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills Model and Pandemic Preventive Behavior
The IMB Model of Pandemic Risk and Prevention treats pandemic preventive behavior as the direct outcome of the model's three core components, with behavioral skills identified as the proximal determinant of action and information and motivation operating through skills to produce behavior change. Specific preventive behaviors addressed include COVID-19 vaccination and booster uptake in adults and children, face mask use, antiviral treatment uptake, and self-isolation, each of which has shown inadequate adherence in current pandemic conditions.
Sources: Fisher & Fisher (2023)
Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills Model and Health Behavior Change Interventions
The IMB model provides a systematic, theory-based foundation for constructing interventions that can be evaluated with rigor, in contrast to the ad hoc, atheoretical public health strategies that characterized responses to both the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics. Preliminary correlational and experimental support for the model's assumptions in COVID-19 contexts has been reported, though existing studies have shown uneven fidelity to the model's core constructs.
Sources: Fisher & Fisher (2023)
