Abstract

Background. The purpose of this study was to explore the underlying behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs about e-cigarette use among college students using the Reasoned Action Approach.

Methods. This study used a sequential mixed-methods design over 3 Phases. During Phase 1, salient beliefs were elicited via an online survey (n = 58); chi-square analyses were conducted to examine differences between e-cigarette users and non-users. Using data from Phase 1, we developed survey items and assessed initial factor loadings via a principal component analysis (n = 49) in Phase 2. In Phase 3, the survey was administered to a larger sample of college students (n = 499) to explore the association between participants’ underlying beliefs and the RAA constructs.

Results. During Phase 1, no significant differences in salient beliefs were found between e-cigarettes users and non-users; thus, both groups were included in all phases. During Phase 2, 148 items were developed, piloted to test factor loadings, and reduced to 60 items, which loaded onto eight factors (two factors per construct). In Phase 3, we found underlying beliefs, such as believing e-cigarettes would help relieve stress or one’s mentors would not approve of their use, were related to global RAA measures–attitude and injunctive norms, respectively.

Conclusions. Overall, our sample of college students endorsed negative beliefs associated with e-cigarette use and did not identify with those who they believed to use these products. Parents were important referents for this sample, whose opinions may influence college students’ behavioral decision-making process.

摘要

背景。本研究的目的是使用理性行动法探讨大学生使用电子烟的潜在行为信念、规范信念和控制信念。

方法。本研究使用了 3 个阶段的顺序混合方法设计。在第一阶段，通过在线调查（n  = 58）引出显着信念；进行卡方分析以检查电子烟用户和非用户之间的差异。使用第一阶段的数据，我们开发了调查项目，并 在第二阶段通过主成分分析 ( n = 49)评估了初始因子载荷。在第三阶段，对更大样本的大学生 ( n  = 499) 进行了调查，以探索参与者的基本信念与 RAA 结构之间的关联。

结果。在第一阶段，电子烟用户和非用户之间没有发现显着信念的显着差异；因此，两组都被包括在所有阶段。在第 2 阶段，开发了 148 个项目，试运行以测试因子加载，然后减少到 60 个项目，加载到 8 个因子（每个构造两个因子）。在第 3 阶段，我们发现潜在的信念，例如相信电子烟有助于缓解压力或某人的导师不会批准其使用，分别与全球 RAA 措施——态度和禁令规范有关。

结论。总体而言，我们的大学生样本认可与电子烟使用相关的负面信念，并且不认同他们认为使用这些产品的人。父母是这个样本的重要参考，他们的意见可能会影响大学生的行为决策过程。