Understanding Adolescent’s Helmet Use From the Perspective of Health Belief Model

Page: 446-448
Savitha Kamakshi and M. Ramya Maheswari (Department of Psychology, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu)

Adolescence is a period where the individuals explore their individuality and tend to seek new and exciting situations more than children and adults. With respect to health, adolescents tend to display optimistic bias which predisposes them to engage less in preventive health behaviors and increase risk taking. One such risk-taking behavior is helmet non-use. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the extent of adolescents’ helmet use and non-use from the perspective of Health Belief Model. Expost facto research design was used. A sample of 100 helmet users and 100 non-helmet users in the age group of 18-25 years were included in the study. An adaptation of Bicycle Helmet Attitude Scale (BHAS) developed by Ross et al. (2010) was used to assess attitude towards using helmet. It was hypothesized that there will be no significant difference between helmet users and non-users with respect to constructs of the Health belief model. Independent sample t-test was used to analyse the results of the study. Results revealed that helmet users perceived themselves as more vulnerable to motorcycle related accidents, had greater self-efficacy and perception of benefits associated with helmet use and paid more attention to cues to action. Helmet non-users had greater perception of barriers associated with helmet use. It was also found that there was no difference between helmet users and non-users with respect to perceived severity.