Norms, attitudes, perceptions, and intentions for benzodiazepine prescription drug abuse among adolescents

<p>A cross-sectional, quantitative study was utilized to test the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) regarding the prediction of adolescents’ behavioral intentions for benzodiazepine abuse. Subjective norms, perceived harm, and perceived behavioral control were measured to predict intentions to abuse such drugs. Similar measures for alcohol and marijuana also were assessed for comparison purposes. A survey was administered to 371 students in 8^th, 10^th, and 12^th grades from the Chelsea School District (CSD) in March 2011. Inferential statistics, including binary logistic regression, chi-square, and repeated measures ANCOVA were used to test the null hypotheses. It was found that behavioral intentions for benzodiazepine abuse were significantly predicted by subjective norms, perceived harm, and perceived behavioral control for these drugs, specifically regarding taking someone else’s prescription medication. More assessment is needed to validate and generalize the results of the present study.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Promotion and Human Performance

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• O'Neill, Angela K.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kathleen Mullen Conley, PhD, Chair
• Jeffrey Schulz, PhD
• Jeffrey Clark, HSD

• Theory of Planned Behavior
• Prescription Drugs
• Drug Abuse
• adolescents
• Medicine and Health Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/422

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-1791