Applying the Health Action Process Approach for assessing oral health behaviors of Japanese university students

Abstract

This cross-sectional study used the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) to describe and investigate oral health behaviors (OHBs) of Japanese university students (N=1,074). They completed a questionnaire that inquired demographic variables and OHBs, and also assessed socio-cognitive variables such as risk perception, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and behavioral planning. Structural equational modeling indicated that the HAPA had a good fit to the data such that it explained 28.3% of the variance in participants’ OHBs. Each path between observed HAPA variables had a significantly positive influence on each variable. However, risk perception and positive outcome expectancy did not have a significant influence on behavioral intention. It is concluded that HAPA is a valid model for explaining OHBs among Japanese university students.