Protection motivation theory and adolescent drug trafficking: relationship between health motivation and longitudinal risk involvement.

OBJECTIVE To assess health protection motivation as explained by the constructs of protection motivation theory (PMT) and its association with drug trafficking over 2 years. METHODS The sample included 817 African American youth (13-16 years old) participating in an adolescent risk-reduction program. We developed an instrument measuring the level of health protection motivation (LHPM) using factor analysis. Changes in LHPM over time were examined among drug traffickers, abstainers, initiators, and nonrisk youths. RESULTS In sum, 151 participants reported selling and/or delivering drugs during the study period. The significant inverse correlation between drug-trafficking intention and health protection motivation was consistent with PMT. Changes in LHPM were strongly associated with the dynamics of behavior over 2 years. CONCLUSIONS Adolescent drug trafficking can be predicted by an overall level of health protection motivation. PMT and related theories should be considered in the design of drug-trafficking prevention intervention.