Abstract
The best strategy to reduce head injury among adolescent motorcycle passengers is to increase the rate of their helmet use. Mandatory helmet wearing can make a direct effect on this rate. However, from the viewpoint of long-term behavior modification and maintenance, it is very important to investigate the influential factors of helmet use among them, and that is the major purpose of this study. Under a two-wave prospective design, six scales with better reliability and validity were administered to 1,396 students sampled from all senior high schools for the academic year of 1996-1997 in Taiwan via a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method with pps. It was found that an extension of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was better than TRA and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in predicting behavioral intention and behavior of helmet use among them. In this model, perceived behavioral control was the major predictor in behavioral intention of helmet use among them, and other important variables were self-efficacy, attitude, and subjective norms. Behavioral intention was an immediate determinant to predict this actual behavior of helmet use, and perceived behavioral control and self-efficacy were also two influential factors. Again, past behavior was not only an important variable of this behavioral intention, but it was also the only, best single variable which had an independent influence on helmet use.
| Keywords: | adolescent; motorcycle passengers’ helmet use; the theory of reasoned action; the theory of planned behavior |
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