Safe Traffic Behaviors in High School Students: a Predictive Cross-sectional Study Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract Background: Road traffic injuries are known as one of the leading causes of death of young people in the world. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigating the effective factors on safe traffic behavior of high school students in Hamadan using the theory of planned behavior. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional-analytical study. The population of this study was all high school male students in Hamadan in the academic year 2020, of which 414 were selected by stratified random sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that was conducted and were confirmed its validity and reliability. Results: Findings from Spearman correlation analysis and multiple regression showed that there is a significant positive relationship between knowledge (p<0.001), attitudes towards behavior (p<0.001), subjective norms (p<0.001) and perceived behavioral control (p<0.001) with students' behavioral intention. Also, was significant the effect of perceived behavioral control (P <0.001) and behavioral intention (P <0.001) on traffic safety behavior. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the theory of planned behavior can be useful in predicting safe traffic behaviors.