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Updated: May 28, 2026

A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
Published on: September 21, 2017
The theory of planned behavior and helmet use among college students
Lisa Thomson Ross1, Thomas P Ross, Sarah Farber
1College of Charleston, SC, USA. rossl@cofc.edu
Objectives:
To assess undergraduate helmet use attitudes and behaviors in accordance with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We predicted helmet wearers and nonwearers would differ on our subscales.
Methods:
Participants (N=414, 69% female, 84% white) completed a survey.
Results:
Principal component analysis and reliability analysis guided the creation of subscales. Group differences were detected on 9 of 10 subscales: F(18,788) = 10.721, P=.001, eta(2) = .187. Few ethnicity and sex differences were detected.
Conclusions:
This study supports the validity of the TPB in predicting college student helmet use and offers a new scale for future research purposes.
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