The theory of planned behavior and alcohol protective behavioral strategies: a prospective study examining the role of habit and gender invariance

Abstract

Objectives: Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) have consistently shown to be effective in reducing alcohol use and its associated consequences. We aimed to examine the explanatory value of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for using five PBS, studying the role of habit, and its invariance across genders. Methods: Targeted sampling was used to recruit 339 young adults in the community (female = 50.7%; mean age = 2.21[SD = 2.21]), who completed baseline and 2-month follow-up questionnaires. Results: The explained variance of the TPB ranged from 58%-68% for intention to use PBS, and 18%-50% for behavior. The inclusion of habit produced increases of 17%-26% in explained variance in intention, while explained variance in behavior remained similar. Habit was the strongest predictor of intention to use PBS, followed by attitude. With the exception of one behavior (drinking slowly), habits did not moderate the intention-behavior relationship, and the explanatory value of the TPB was invariant across genders. Conclusions: Our findings support the utility of the TPB as an explanatory model of alcohol PBS, along with the need to include habits within the framework of dual-process models. Interventions aimed at promoting alcohol PBS could be optimized by targeting attitudes towards PBS and habits.