Predicting Bicycle Helmet Wearing Intentions and Behavior among Adolescents
Introduction
Approximately 7,550 cyclists were seriously injured or killed on Australian roads from 1999 to 2002 (Australian Transport Safety Bureau [ATSB], 2004a), and of those killed, 40% to 50% were under the age of 16 years (ATSB, 2004b). Several studies confirm that young cyclists are over represented in accident statistics (Dolinis et al., 1995, Queensland Transport and Land Transport, 2002, Rodgers, 2000). Such a high frequency of injury and fatality among adolescent cyclists and in particular, young males, suggests that this is an at risk population that requires further investigation.
Studies show that resistance to helmet use is common among adolescents (Berg & Westerling, 2001). Previous research has identified numerous factors related to helmet use among adolescents, including past helmet use behavior (Quine et al., 1998, Seijts et al., 1995), role modeling, parental encouragement, (Cryer et al., 1998, Lajunen and Rasanen, 2001), attitudes (Berg and Westerling, 2001, Cryer et al., 1998, Rodgers, 2000), and having friends who use helmets (Cryer et al., 1998, Lajunen and Rasanen, 2001). Furthermore, safety considerations (Berg and Westerling, 2001, Finch, 1996), compulsory helmet wearing by law (Sutton, 1994), and educational campaigns (Ashby et al., 1998, Brewer et al., 1995) have been associated with increased use of helmets.
The sheer number and diverse nature of such risk factors has prompted recent research based on more general models under which such varied predictors can be incorporated. This has been achieved with social psychological theories that recognize health behaviors as being determined by multiple influences. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has been successfully applied to the prediction of bicycle helmet use (Lajunen and Rasanen, 2001, Lajunen and Rasanen, 2004, Quine et al., 1998, Quine et al., 2001), in addition to a range of road user behaviors such as driving safely (Parker et al., 1995, Parker et al., 1996) and the wearing of seatbelts (Stasson & Fishbein, 1990). The TPB (Ajzen, 1991) proposes that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) predict intention and that both intention and PBC predict actual behavior.
Attitude is based on a set of behavioral beliefs about the perceived likelihood that performance of the behavior will lead to a particular outcome. Subjective norm is underpinned by normative beliefs concerning the likelihood that important others will approve or disapprove of the behavior (i.e., injunctive norms), however more recent conceptualizations of this variable have incorporated the measurement of moral norms and descriptive norms (i.e., how others behave in relation to the behavior). PBC has also been reconceptualized in recent years, incorporating measures of control (based on beliefs about the presence of factors likely to facilitate or inhibit performance of the behavior) and self efficacy. Meta analytic reviews provide evidence for the significant relations between the theory's three major predictors and belief based measures (Ajzen, 1991, Armitage and Conner, 2001).
In previous research employing the TPB to predict adolescent helmet wearing intentions and behavior, Quine et al. (1998) found that intention and PBC explained helmet use, while behavioral intention was predicted by subjective norm and PBC. Lajunen and Rasanen (2004) found that all components of the TPB were significantly related to intention to use a helmet (actual behavior was not measured). Previous research suggests that habit or past behavior is one of the most important predictors of future behavior (Conner and Armitage, 1998, Conner and McMillan, 1999), and considering that experience with wearing a helmet is strongly related to continued use (Quine et al., 1998, Seijts et al., 1995), past behavior was also included in the current study. A further variable that warrants investigation since it is proposed to be a major barrier toward helmet use is the perception of peer attitudes (Howland et al., 1989). It has been suggested that the perception of the normativeness of a behavior in a peer group may be a more important influence than the actual prevalence of the behavior (Page & Scanlan, 1999). Page and Scanlan examined perceptions of the prevalence of marijuana use among a university sample and showed that those who held the perception that use was the norm were significantly more likely to use marijuana than those holding the perception that use was less prevalent.
The aim of the current study was to investigate predictors of bicycle helmet use, within the framework of the TPB. The current study extends previous research by examining beliefs underlying the different types of norms, as well as beliefs underlying the two components of perceived behavioral control (PBC). It also examined past behavior and perceptions of the prevalence of helmet use (PPHU) among adolescents in the sample, assessing the relationship between perception and actual use.
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were Year 8 (N = 153) and Year 11 (N = 141) students enrolled at a state high school in a middle socioeconomic area. The first questionnaire included 294 participants (140 males and 154 females) and 266 (122 males and 144 females) of these students completed the follow-up questionnaire, representing a return rate of 90%. Participants' ages ranged from 11 to 17 years, with a mean age of 12.5 years in Year 8 and 15.5 years in Year 11.
Materials
The constructs of the TPB were assessed in accordance
Bicycle riding characteristics
Of the final sample (n = 293), 166 participants (57%) indicated that they rode a bicycle at least 1 to 4 days per week. The sample consisted predominantly of helmet owners (78.2%), with frequencies indicating that more males and Year 8 students than females and Year 11 students owned bicycle helmets. Almost 60% (n = 169) had used a bicycle helmet in the two weeks prior to the study (past behavior), while 67% (n = 177) used a bicycle helmet during the two week period that the study was conducted
Discussion
In general, the sample reported positive attitudes toward helmet use, relatively high perceived social pressure to use helmets (subjective norm), and moderate levels of moral obligation and perceptions of control regarding helmet use. The majority of the sample owned bicycle helmets (78.2%). More than half had used helmets in the two weeks prior to the study (59%), intended to use helmets (78%), and subsequently used helmets during the two week study period (67%). Overall, males and Year 8
Ethics statement
The research was reviewed and approved by the University's Human Research Ethics Committee.
Frances O'Callaghan, PhD is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University where she has been employed since 1994. She is a registered psychologist and a member of the Griffith Psychological Health Research Centre, the Australian Psychological Society and the Australian College of Health Psychologists. Her research primarily focuses on adolescent and young adult health related behaviors, in particular, risky behaviors.
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2019, Safety ScienceCitation Excerpt :Therefore, a serious knowledge gap exists in this area and needs to be addressed by researchers. Despite the robustness of the TPB in predicting different intentions and behaviors, some prior studies in the field of PPE behavior, have attempted to improve the model explanatory ability through additional factors’ incorporation (O’Callaghan and Nausbaum, 2006; Norris and Myers, 2013; Ledesma et al., 2018). Nevertheless, very few studies have included the risk perception as an additional variable to the TPB to explain the intention and behavior (Lobb et al., 2007; Schmiege et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2010; Mullan et al., 2013).
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2019, Trends in Cognitive SciencesCitation Excerpt :Where people come from, or where they currently spend their time, influences the language they speak, the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the currency they spend, and countless other routine behaviors: whether they eat hamburgers with their fingers (as in the USA) or knife and fork (as in Norway); eat rice with chopsticks (Japan) or their right hand (Malaysia); dip French fries in ketchup (Canada) or mayonnaise (Belgium); arrive to dinners on time (Germany) or fashionably late (Brazil); and sit in the back (England) or front (Australia) of a taxi cab during a solo trip. This influence extends beyond the ubiquitous social interactions of everyday life to decisions with potentially life-altering consequences: whether to challenge an adversary in a duel [1], reciprocate gang-related violence [2], donate one’s organs [3], drink or smoke cigarettes [4], wear a helmet while riding a bicycle [5], or even to report sexual harassment, have a child, or allow a clitoridectomy or circumcision to be performed on one’s child. While some correlated behaviors may simply be chalked up to shared habits (e.g., we all brush our teeth each morning), what distinguishes a broad class of norms is the way agents mentally represent them.
Frances O'Callaghan, PhD is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith University where she has been employed since 1994. She is a registered psychologist and a member of the Griffith Psychological Health Research Centre, the Australian Psychological Society and the Australian College of Health Psychologists. Her research primarily focuses on adolescent and young adult health related behaviors, in particular, risky behaviors.
Sarah Nausbaum holds an Honours degree in psychology from Griffith University and is employed as a Health, Safety, Environment and Community officer by Xstrata Coal, a large mining company in Queensland, Australia.