The Prediction of Sexual Risk Behaviors among College Students Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Director of Dissertation: Christine GidyczSexual risk behaviors, which can lead to a number of negative health consequences, continue to be a problem on college campuses (e.g., Grello, Welsh, & Harper, 2006;Gullette & Lyons, 2006;Ravert et al., 2009).The theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1985;1991) has been shown to be effective in predicting sexual risk behavior (e.g., Albarracín, Johnson, Fishbein, & Muellerleile, 2001;Godin & Kok, 1996), as well as a range of other behaviors (e.g., Ajzen, 1991;Armitage & Conner, 2001).The predictive validity of the TPB has been shown to increase when other variables are included and therefore an extended version of the TPB was examined in the current study to aid in the prediction of condom use, contraceptive use, dual use (condom use plus another contraceptive method), and casual sex among college students.Structural equation modeling was utilized to test both sufficiency models as predicted by the TPB and extended models where six additional variables were allowed to have direct paths to both intentions and behavior.Specifically, the first goal of the study was to examine both the TPB sufficiency models and the extended TPB models for each of the seven behaviors to determine whether the six added variables (past sexual risk behavior, anticipated affect, moral norms, sexual excitation, sexual inhibition, and sensation seeking) had direct relationships with intentions and/or behavior and to assess which of the two types of models provide a better fit to the data.

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