Areca quid chewing by Taiwanese adolescents: application of the Attitudes Social Influence Self-efficacy (ASE) model.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the factors associated with areca quid-chewing behaviour using the Attitudes-Social influence-Self-efficacy (ASE) model as a theoretical framework.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
A total of 400 students from a junior high school participated in the study in 2001 in Chia-Yi city (Taiwan).


METHODS
Expectancy scales (for the attitude component of the ASE), a self-efficacy scale (for the self-efficacy component of the ASE) and a social norm scale (for the social influence component of the ASE) were utilized. These measures displayed good reliability and validity.


RESULTS
Forty-seven students (11.75%) reported that they had tried chewing areca quid previously, eight of them practicing chewing it every day. Positive and negative expectancy (r = 0.43, r=- 0.20), self- efficacy (r = - 0.65), and subject social norm (r = 0.53) were significantly correlated with participants' intentions to chew areca quid. In a regression model, self-efficacy (beta = - 0.46, P < 0.001), social norm (beta = 0.22, P < 0.001), positive expectancy (beta = 0.18, P < 0.001) and negative expectancy (beta = - 0.08, P = 0.040) all made independent contributions to predicting intentions to chew and explained 46.8% of the variance in areca quid-chewing behaviour.


CONCLUSIONS
Areca quid chewing appeared to be linked to positive expectancy and social norms pertaining to areca quid chewing associated with adolescents. However, high negative expectancy and high self-efficacy encouraged contrary behaviour. The application of the ASE model as the scenario could improve our understanding of the intention of the areca quid chewing among these adolescents.
Li
Shih-Ming
SM
Department of Dentistry, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Rwei-Ling
Yu
Y
Hu
Hsing-Chia
HC
Huang
Jehn-Shyun
JS
Yu
S Rwei-Ling
SR
D000293:Adolescent; D001114:Areca; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan