PATH ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS AFFECTING THAI YOUNGSTERS’ INTENTION TO REGISTER AS ORGAN DONORS

Abstract

This survey research examined the antecedents affecting Thai youngsters’ knowledge, attitude, and intention to register as organ donor after participating in the contest campaign for “Give New Life…Be Organ Donor” organized by School of Communication Arts, Bangkok University in 2016. The antecedents examined were Thai youngsters’ gender, media exposure, and their intention to donate organ after participating in the campaign. Cluster sample was conducted to select 84 undergraduate students and high school students aged between 17 - 23 years old who participated in the contest. The data were analyzed using Path Analysis with significance level of 0.01 and 0.05. The path analysis results revealed the model of antecedents affecting the students’ intention to register as organ donor was in accordance with empirical data (c2 = .506, df = 2, CMIN/DF = .253, P-value = .776, RMSEA = .000, CFI = 1.000). The findings revealed: (1) Thai youngsters’ desires to donate organ after participating in the campaign had negative effect on their attitude toward organ donation (B = -.80**, p < 0.01); (2) Their media exposure to the campaign had positive effect on their intention to register as organ donor (B = 0.27*, p < 0.05); and (3) Gender of respondents had significant negative effect on their intention to register as organ donor (r = -.292 p < 0.05). Male respondents had significantly lower intention to register as organ donor than female (B = -.26**, p < 0.01), but male respondents had significant higher attitude toward organ donation than female respondents (B = 0.13*, p < 0.05). None of the antecedents significantly influenced respondents’ knowledge.