Applying the health action process approach to safe listening behavior among young adults

Abstract

Unsafe use of earphones and headphones places young people at increasing risk for hearing loss and represents a growing public health concern. This study examined whether the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) can explain safe listening behavior among young adults. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey of 988 participants aged 18–39 years in the Tokai region of Japan. The survey assessed demographic characteristics, safe listening behavior, knowledge of safe listening, and HAPA-based psychological constructs, including risk perception, outcome expectancy, action self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and planning. Structural equation modeling showed an acceptable model fit and explained 34% of the variance in safe listening behavior. These findings suggest that the HAPA model offers a useful framework for understanding the psychological mechanisms that support safe listening behavior among young adults.