Psychological determinants of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages consumption among Secondary School Students: An Integrated Application of Social Cognitive Theory and Perceived Barriers Structure

Background: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) are one of the rich sources of calories from the diet, without having proper nutrients, and excessive consumption of these drinks can have adverse effects on the health of the individual and society. The purpose of this study was using the social cognitive theory (SCT) and perceived barriers to explain the adoption of preventative behaviors to consume SSBs among secondary school students. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 607 secondary school students selected through multi-stage cluster sampling. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire including students' characteristics, students' beliefs toward SSBs based on the SCT, perceived barriers, Preventive behaviors, and the amount of daily consumption of SSBs. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression in SPSS (version 25.0). Results: The results showed that the average age of the participants was 13.92 +/- 0.78 years. The amount of SSB use among students was unsatisfactory (3.49 glasses per day). In addition, the findings indicated that students' self-regulation, perceived social support, perceived barriers and self-efficacy (P<0.001) had statistically significant associations with adopting preventive behaviors to reduce consumption of SSBs, and those constructs explained 40% of the variance of students' adopting preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Among the variables related to the SCT and perceived barriers, self-regulation, perceived social support, perceived barriers and self-efficacy were effective factors on students' nutritional performance toward consumption of SSBs. Hence, by using the present findings, health care providers can plan, implement and evaluate suitable interventions to reduce the consumption of SSBs in students.