The theory of planned behavior and helmet use among college students.

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.