Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Differentiating Between Precursor and Control Variables When Analyzing Reasoned Action Theories

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper highlights the distinction between precursor and control variables in the context of reasoned action theory. Here the theory is combined with structural equation modeling to demonstrate how age and past sexual behavior should be situated in a reasoned action analysis. A two wave longitudinal survey sample of African-American adolescents is analyzed where the target behavior is having vaginal sex. Results differ when age and past behavior are used as control variables and when they are correctly used as precursors. Because control variables do not appear in any form of reasoned action theory, this approach to including background variables is not correct when analyzing data sets based on the theoretical axioms of the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Theory of Planned Behavior, or the Integrative Model.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I., & Albarracín, D. (2007). Predicting and changing behavior: A reasoned action approach. In I. Ajzen, D. Albarracín, & R. Hornik (Eds.), Prediction and change of health behavior (pp. 3–21). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balassone, M., Baker, S., Gillmore, M., Morrison, D., & Dickstein, D. (1993). Interventions to decrease the risk of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among high-risk heterosexual adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 15, 475–488. doi:10.1016/0190-7409(93)90027-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beadnell, B., Wilson, A., Wells, E., Morison, D., Gillmore, M., & Hoppe, M. (2007). Intrapersonal and interpersonal factors influencing adolescents’ decisions about having sex: A test of the sufficiency of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 2840–2876. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00285.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beadnell, B., Baker, S., Gillmore, M., Morrison, D., Huang, B., & Stielstra, S. (2008). The role of reasoned action and the role of external factors on heterosexual men’s monogamy and condom use. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38, 97–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen, A., Williams, M., McCoy, H., & McCoy, C. (2001). Crack smokers’ intention to use condoms with loved partners: Intervention development using the theory of reasoned action, condom beliefs, and processes of change. AIDS Care, 13, 579–594. doi:10.1080/09540120120063214.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryan, A., Schmiege, S., & Broaddus, M. (2006). Mediational analysis in HIV/AIDS research; estimating multivariate path analytic models in a structural equation modeling framework. AIDS and Behavior, 11, 365–383. doi:10.1007/s10461-006-9150-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CDC. (2005). HIV/AIDS surveillance report. GA: Atlanta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H. (1990). Theory-driven evaluations. Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cialdini, R., Reno, R., & Kallgren, C. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1015–1026. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collazo, A. (2004). Theory-based predictors of intention to engage in precautionary sexual behavior among Puerto Rican high school adolescents. Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth, 6, 91–120. doi:10.1300/J499v06n01_06.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiClemente, R., Wingood, G., Harrington, K., Land, D., Davies, S., Hook, E., et al. (2004). Efficacy of an HIV prevention intervention for African American adolescent girls. Journal of the American Medical Association, 292, 171–179. doi:10.1001/jama.292.2.171.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, M. (2000). The role of theory in HIV prevention. AIDS Care, 12, 273–278. doi:10.1080/09540120050042918.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, M., & Yzer, M. (2003). Using theory to design effective health behavior interventions. Communication Theory, 13, 164–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, M., Hennessy, M., Kamb, M., Bolan, G., Hoxworth, T., Iatesta, M., et al. (2001). Using intervention theory to model factors influencing behavior change: Project RESPECT. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 24, 363–384. doi:10.1177/01632780122034966.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flora, D., & Curran, P. (2004). An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data. Psychological Methods, 9, 466–491. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flores, E., Tschann, J., & Marin, B. (2002). Latina adolescents: Predicting intentions to have sex. Adolescence, 37, 559–679.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, M., Archibald, M., Morrison, D., Wilsdon, A., Wells, E., Hoppe, M., et al. (2002). Teen sexual behavior: Applicability of the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 64, 885–897. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00885.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J., Hennessy, M., MacGowan, R., Celentano, D., Gonzales, V., & VanDevanter, N. (2000). Modeling intervention efficacy for high-risk women: The WINGS project. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 23, 123–148. doi:10.1177/016327870002300201.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hennessy, M., & Greenberg, J. (1999). Bringing it all together: Modeling intervention processes using structural equation modeling. The American Journal of Evaluation, 20, 471–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennessy, M., Bleakley, A., Fishbein, M., & Jordan, A. (2008). Validating an adolescent sexual behavior index using psychosocial theory and social trait correlates. AIDS and Behavior, 8, 321–331. doi:10.1007/s10461-007-9272-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbert, R., & Stephenson, M. (2003). The importance of indirect effects in media research: Testing for mediation in structural equation modeling. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47, 556–572. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4704_5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jemmott, J., Jemmott, L., Braverman, P., & Fong, G. (2005). HIV/STD risk reduction interventions for African American and Latino adolescent girls at an adolescent medicine clinic: A randomized controlled trial. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 159, 440–449. doi:10.1001/archpedi.159.5.440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalichman, S., Carey, M., & Johnson, B. (1996). Prevention of sexually transmitted HIV infection: A meta-analytic review of the behavioral outcome literature. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 18, 6–15. doi:10.1007/BF02903934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kashima, Y., Gallois, C., & McCamish, M. (1993). The theory of reasoned action and cooperative behaviour: It takes two to use a condom. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 227–239.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koniak-Griffin, D., Lesser, J., Nyamathi, A., Uman, G., & Cumberland, W. (2003). Project CHARM: An HIV prevention program for adolescent mothers. Family & Community Health, 26, 94–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leeuw, F. (2003). Reconstructing program theories: Methods available and problems to be solved. The American Journal of Evaluation, 24, 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R., Wegener, D., Uchino, B., & Fabrigar, L. (1993). The problem of equivalent models in applications of covariance structure analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 185–199. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.114.1.185.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Malotte, C., Jarvis, B., Fishbein, M., Kamb, M., Iatesta, M., Hoxworth, T., et al. (2000). Stage of change versus an integrated psychological theory as a basis for developing effective behavior change interventions. AIDS Care, 12, 357–364. doi:10.1080/09540120050043016.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martino, S., Collins, R., Kanhouse, D., et al. (2005). Social cognitive processes mediating the relationship between exposure to television’s sexual content and adolescent’s sexual behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 914–924. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.914.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Middlestadt, S. (2007). What is the behavior? Strategies for selecting the behavior to be addressed by health promotion interventions. In I. Ajzen, D. Albarracín, & R. Hornik (Eds.), Prediction and Change of Health Behavior (pp. 129–138). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middlestadt, S., Bhattacharyya, K., Rosenbaum, J., Fishbein, M., & Shepherd, M. (1996). The use of theory based semi-structured elicitation questionnaires: Formative research on consistent condom use for the prevention marketing initiative. Public Health Reports, 111, 18–27.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (2007). Mplus user’s guide (Vol. 5th). Los Angeles: Muthén and Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noar, S. (2007). An interventionist’s guide to AIDS behavioral theories. AIDS Care, 19, 392–402. doi:10.1080/09540120600708469.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pedlow, C., & Carey, M. (2003). HIV sexual risk-reduction interventions for youth: A review and methodological critique of randomized controlled trials. Behavior Modification, 27, 135–190. doi:10.1177/0145445503251562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K., & Hayes, A. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891. doi:10.3758/BRM.40.3.879.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prochaska, J., DiClemente, C., & Norcross, J. (1992). In search of how people change. The American Psychologist, 47, 1102–1114. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.47.9.1102.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rangel, M., Gavin, L., Reed, C., Fowler, M., & Lee, L. (2006). Epidemiology of HIV and AIDS among adolescents and young adults in the United States. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 156–163. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.02.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Renger, R., & Titcomb, A. (2002). A three-step approach to teaching logic models. The American Journal of Evaluation, 23, 493–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, R., & Lomax, R. (2004). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, L., & Hennessy, M. (1994). Using structural equations to estimate the effects of behavioral interventions. Structural Equation Modeling, 1, 68–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith-McLallen, A., & Fishbein, M. (2009). Predicting intentions to engage in cancer prevention and detection behaviors: Examining differences between Black and White adults. Psychology Health and Medicine, 14, 180–189. doi:10.1080/13548500802183575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobel, M. (2008). Identification of causal parameters in randomized studies with mediating variables. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 33, 230–251. doi:10.3102/1076998607307239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanton, B., Fang, X., Li, X., Feigelman, S., Galbraith, J., & Ricardo, I. (1997). Evolution of risk behaviors over 2 years among a cohort of urban African American adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 151, 398–406.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S., McVey, D., & Glanz, A. (1999). A comparative test of the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior in the prediction of condom use intentions in a national sample of English young people. Health Psychology, 18, 72–81. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.18.1.72.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, L., & Frigon, J. (2004). Biobehavioral and cognitive determinants of adolescent girls’ involvement in sexual risk behaviours: A test of three theoretical models. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 13, 29–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanable, P., Carey, M., Bostwick, R., Brown, L., Valois, R., DiClemente, R., et al. (2008). Community partnerships in adolescent HIV prevention research: the experience of Project iMPPACS. In B. Stanton, J. Galbraith, & L. Kalgee (Eds.), The uncharted path from clinic-based to community-based research (pp. 137–159). Hauppauge: Nova Science Publishers.

  • Yzer, M. (2007). Does perceived control moderate attitudinal and normative effects on intentions: A review of conceptual and methodological issues. In I. Ajzen, D. Albarracín, & R. Hornik (Eds.), Prediction and change of health behavior (pp. 111–127). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yzer, M., Fishbein, M., & Hennessy, M. (2008). HIV interventions affect behavior indirectly: Results from the AIDS community demonstration projects. AIDS Care, 20, 456–461. doi:10.1080/09540120701867024.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was made possible by grant number MH-066809-01A2 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This study was conducted through the iMPPACS network (Pim Brouwers, Project Officer) at the following sites and with the following local members: Columbia, SC (MH66802, Robert Valois (PI), Naomi Farber, Andre Walker); Macon, GA (MH66807, Ralph DiClemente (PI), Gina Wingood, Laura Salazar, Rachel Joseph, Delia Lang; Philadelphia, PA (MH66809, Daniel Romer (PI), Sharon Sznitman, Bonita Stanton, Michael Hennessy, Ivan Juzang, and Thierry Fortune); Providence, RI (MH-66785, Larry Brown (PI), Christie Rizzo, Nanetta Payne); Syracuse, NY (MH66794, Peter Vanable (PI), Michael Carey, Rebecca Bostwick). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIMH. Hennessy, Bleakley, and Fishbein were also supported by grant number 5R01HD044136 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Policy Center, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Michael Hennessy, Amy Bleakley, Martin Fishbein & Daniel Romer

  2. School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ralph DiClemente & Laura Salazar

  3. Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Peter A. Vanable & Michael P. Carey

  4. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Robert Valois

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Larry Brown

Authors
  1. Michael Hennessy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amy Bleakley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martin Fishbein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Larry Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ralph DiClemente
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Daniel Romer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Robert Valois
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Peter A. Vanable
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Michael P. Carey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Laura Salazar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Hennessy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hennessy, M., Bleakley, A., Fishbein, M. et al. Differentiating Between Precursor and Control Variables When Analyzing Reasoned Action Theories. AIDS Behav 14, 225–236 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-009-9560-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-009-9560-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation