The Perceived Susceptibility of Young Adults Sustaining A Traumatic Brain Injury While Participating in Risk Taking Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived susceptibility of young adults sustaining a traumatic brain injury while participating in risk taking behaviors. The Health Belief Model provided the conceptual framework for this study. An author created demographic questionnaire including risk behavior, the Five Factor Personality Traits, the Health Belief Model survey, and Knowles’s Risk Taking questionnaire were emailed out to all students of the University of Nevada, Reno. A total of 1,251 students responded to the survey and 932 completed the survey to its entirety, which were used to complete data analysis. These results were used to identify personality traits of risk takers and evaluate their perceived susceptibility of sustaining a traumatic brain injury. The results of this study showed a small, positive correlation between increased risk taking and age, degree, gender and their perceived susceptibility of sustaining a traumatic brain injury. The high risk taking group was shown to agree with the answer “helmets are unnecessary if you are experienced in the recreational activity”. From these results, implications for future research; test, retest design along with development of trauma prevention education and practice are discussed.