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Published on: September 21, 2017
The bicycle helmet attitudes scale: using the health belief model to predict helmet use among undergraduates
Thomas P Ross1, Lisa Thomson Ross, Annalise Rahman
1Department of Psychology, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina 29424, USA. rosstp@cofc.edu
Objective:
This study examined bicycle helmet attitudes and practices of college undergraduates and developed the Bicycle Helmet Attitudes Scale, which was guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM; Rosenstock, 1974, in Becker MH, ed. The Health Belief Model and Personal Health Behavior. Thorofare, NJ: Charles B. Slack; 1974:328-335) to predict reported helmet use.
Participants:
Students (N = 337) from a mid-sized university in the southeast completed a survey between November 2006 and November 2007.
Methods:
Participants completed a comprehensive survey on attitudes and behaviors relevant to bicycle helmet use.
Results:
The resulting Bicycle Helmet Attitudes Scale contains 57 items and represents 10 reliable subscales that reflect the HBM. Only 12% of students were self-reported helmet users. Bicycle Helmet Attitudes Scale scores captured 52% of the variance associated with helmet use; each subscale differentiated wearers from nonwearers. Men reported more media influences than did women.
Conclusions:
The utility of the HBM to predicted bicycle helmet use was supported. Implications for promoting cycling safety are discussed.
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