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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Predicting university undergraduates’ binge-drinking behavior: A comparative test of the one- and two-component theories of planned behavior



This study provides a comparative test of the one- and two-component theories of planned behavior (TPB) in the context of university undergraduates’ binge-drinking.

Participants (N = 120) self-completed questionnaire measures of all TPB constructs at time 1 and subsequent binge-drinking at time 2 (two-weeks later). The data were analyzed using a combination of path analyses and bootstrapping procedures.

Both models accounted for a substantial proportion of the variation in behavior.

However, the two-component TPB provided a significantly better fit to the data, with the total direct and indirect effects accounting for 90% of the variance.

Intention was the only direct predictor of behavior. Instrumental attitude, affective attitude and self-efficacy had indirect effects.

Although health interventions could usefully target these cognitive antecedents, simulation analyses, modelling the effects of cognition change on behavior, showed that only large- (0.8 SD) sized changes to affective attitude, or moderate-sized changes to all of these cognitions in combination were sufficient to reduce binge-drinking.


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