@article{ref1,
title="Understanding reasons for non-compliance in motorcycle helmet use among adolescents in Greece",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2009",
author="Germeni, Evi and Lionis, Christos D. and Davou, Bettina and Th Petridou, E.",
volume="15",
number="1",
pages="19-23",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To explore attitudes towards two-wheel motorized vehicle (TWMV) helmet use among adolescents in a country with poor legal compliance. DESIGN: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 523 high school students to define the sample of a qualitative study; thereafter, the Health Belief Model (HBM) was applied in 12 focus groups comprising 70 students. SETTING: Three randomly selected public secondary schools in middle-income areas of Athens, Greece. RESULTS: Students reporting frequent helmet use were characterized by a high perceived threat of a TWMV-related injury, which seemed to be associated with both prior experience of an injury and receiving information on helmet wearing from &quot;significant others.&quot; Students reporting helmet non-use were characterized by a low threat perception, possibly attributable to adolescent egocentrism and accompanying feelings of invulnerability or to lack of knowledge and experience in risk identification. A sharp contrast was noted regarding the most important perceived benefit of helmet use, expressed among users as &quot;protection in the case of a road crash&quot; and among non-users as &quot;avoiding tickets from traffic police&quot;. Main barriers to helmet use, as identified by non-users, included: low perceived efficacy of helmets; peer pressure; lack of appropriate information on helmet use; high helmet cost; lack of convenience; vision and hearing disturbance; and style reasons. CONCLUSIONS: When social norms of low compliance to safety laws prevail, qualitative research can assist in developing tailored educational interventions targeting behavior modification among adolescents.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/ip.2008.019356",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip.2008.019356"
}