Personality traits and health‐risk behaviours in university students

Relations between personality and health‐risk behaviours in university undergraduates were examined using multiple measures of personality across multiple samples (N = 1151). Big Five personality variables, at both factor and facet levels, were used to predict three specific health‐risk behaviours: (a) tobacco consumption, (b) alcohol consumption and (c) speeding in an automobile. Our findings showed that low Conscientiousness and low Agreeableness were uniformly associated with this cluster of potentially health damaging behaviours. Extraversion was additionally associated with alcohol use. Interaction effects were found between Conscientiousness and Agreeableness on smoking and (for men only) on drinking. Other personality variables not centrally related to the Big Five, such as Risk‐Taking (high) and Integrity (low), were also implicated in the present health‐risk behaviours. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality,risky health behaviour,and perceived susceptibility to health risks

We examined the relations between personality (Five‐Factor Model), risky health behaviours, and perceptions of susceptibility to health risks among 683 university students. The hypothesis was that personality would affect perceptions of susceptibility to health risks in two ways: directly, irrespective of risky health behaviours, and indirectly, through the effects of personality on risky health behaviours. The students were surveyed about smoking, being drunk, drunk driving, risky sexual behaviour, and perceptions of susceptibility to related health risks. In path‐analytical models we found the expected direct and indirect effects. The personality dimensions of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness had negative direct effects on perceptions of susceptibility as well as negative indirect effects through risky health behaviours. Neuroticism was the only personality dimension to show positive direct effects on perceptions of susceptibility as well as negative indirect effects. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and attitudinal correlates of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles in young adults

Abstract

The relationship between healthy lifestyle and personality and attitudinal variables was analyzed with data collected from 809 men and 996 women aged 18–30 years in England, Belgium, Finland and Norway as part of the European Health and Behaviour Survey. A health practices index was constructed on the basis of performance of sixteen behaviours including smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, sleep time and a variety of dietary and preventive practices. Scores on the health practices index were higher in women than men, but in both sexes the index was normally distributed. Consistently healthy practices were positively correlated with extraversion and optimism, and negatively associated with neuroticism, psychoticism and chance locus of control beliefs. These effects were maintained after controlling for social desirability, but together accounted for only a modest proportion of the variance in the health practices index. The results are discussed in relation to the factors characterising health conscious and unhealthy lifestyles.     

Stability and changes in health behaviours in young adults over a one year period

Abstract

Data concerning 19 health-related behaviours and associated beliefs were collected by questionnaire from 282 students in the Netherlands on two occasions over one year. While all behaviours showed moderate stability, there were variations in the degree of change. The highest stability was reported for sleep time, tooth brushing frequency, seat belt usage and health care service utilization. The least stable behaviours included regular exercise and various dietary measures. Predictors of changes in smoking, dietary fat intake, alcohol consumption and regular exercise were analysed in detail. Beliefs assessed at year 1 in the importance of these activities for health predicted changes in behaviour over the study year independently of prior behaviour levels. Awareness of the risks associated with behaviours, and explicit wishes to modify behaviour patterns (eg stop smoking, exercise more), did not predict change from year 1 to year 2. The results indicated that health behaviours vary in their stability, and that health beliefs may predict future health behaviour changes.     

Impulsivity as a predictor of smoking and alcohol consumption

This prospective study examined the relationships between impulsivity, smoking and alcohol use in a large non-clinical sample of 601 men and 4832 women working in 12 Finnish hospitals. Data on impulsivity, smoking and alcohol consumption were collected by two questionnaires with a two-year interval. At baseline, impulsivity was associated with smoking and alcohol use. After controlling for baseline smoking, impulsivity predicted increased number of cigarettes smoked per day in women (p=0.08), but not in men. After controlling for alcohol use at baseline, impulsivity predicted increased alcohol consumption similarly in both genders (p<0.01). Higher impulsivity was also associated with increased likelihood of taking up smoking or becoming a heavy drinker (p<0.05). This evidence suggests that impulsivity contributes to increasing health risk behaviours.     

Religious perceptions of alcohol consumption and drinking behaviours among religious and non-religious groups

Evidence indicates that religious involvement is associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption. However, mechanisms underlying the specific effects of religion on alcohol behaviours are still not entirely clear. This study examined potential differences in religious perceptions of alcohol consumption (RePAC) among Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and non-religious individuals, and between Catholic and Baptist Christian denominations. We also assessed whether these perceptions were associated with quantity and frequency of drinking. Participants (N?=?495; 79% female) aged 18 and above completed self-report measures of alcohol consumption and religious perceptions of alcohol use. Findings indicated that non-religious individuals and Buddhists reported higher RePAC scores (i.e., more favourable attitudes toward alcohol use), followed by Christians and then Muslims. Drinking quantity was more strongly associated with RePAC for Buddhists and Christians than the same association for non-religious participants. These results provide preliminary evidence linking religious perceptions of alcohol to drinking behaviours across religious affiliations.     

Stages of change for health-related behaviours in 18 year-old Australians

Abstract This study investigated the validity of a Stages of Change algorithm with respect to independent measures of physical activity and fitness. dietary intake and alcohol consumption in 18 year-old Ausmlian men (n = 301) and women (n = 282). Stage of Change categories were related to fat and fibre intakes in men and fibre intake in women as well as hit and vegetable intakes in men and women. Physical activity and fitness for men and women also showed significant linear associations with Stage of Change categories. Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with Stage of Change categories for men but not for women although recorded alcohol consumption was very variable for women. However, the algorithm was valid for both men and women when drinking alcohol consistent with national guidelines on safe drinking was used. In summary, with reference to actual health behaviours, the Stages of Change algorithm was valid for young men and women for diet. physical activity and alcohol drinking. Independent behavioural data were not available for smoking behaviours. Using the algorithm, there were significant associations in men between prccontemplation status for diet and drinking and diet and physical activity, in women between diet and smoking and in both men and women between drinking and smoking. Covariance between precontemplation status for different health behaviours therefore suggests the need for multimodal interventions.     

Stages of change for health-related behaviours in 18 year-old Australians

Abstract

This study investigated the validity of a Stages of Change algorithm with respect to independent measures of physical activity and fitness. dietary intake and alcohol consumption in 18 year-old Ausmlian men (n = 301) and women (n = 282). Stage of Change categories were related to fat and fibre intakes in men and fibre intake in women as well as hit and vegetable intakes in men and women. Physical activity and fitness for men and women also showed significant linear associations with Stage of Change categories. Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with Stage of Change categories for men but not for women although recorded alcohol consumption was very variable for women. However, the algorithm was valid for both men and women when drinking alcohol consistent with national guidelines on safe drinking was used. In summary, with reference to actual health behaviours, the Stages of Change algorithm was valid for young men and women for diet. physical activity and alcohol drinking. Independent behavioural data were not available for smoking behaviours. Using the algorithm, there were significant associations in men between prccontemplation status for diet and drinking and diet and physical activity, in women between diet and smoking and in both men and women between drinking and smoking. Covariance between precontemplation status for different health behaviours therefore suggests the need for multimodal interventions.     

Clustering of diet,physical activity and smoking and a general willingness to change

Addressing multiple health behaviours are important in preventing disease and mortality. The present study investigated the clustering of health behaviours, cognitive determinants and stages of change in 2827 adults for the lifestyle factors of physical activity, fruit, vegetable and fat consumption and smoking. The results showed that only 3% of the total population met recommended guidelines for all of the five behaviours. Behaviours were found to be weakly associated. Behaviour-specific cognitions and stages of change for the behaviours clustered more strongly, however. With respect to diet and physical activity, respondents in the preparation stage for one behaviour were likely also to be preparing to change another behaviour. Possible mechanisms for the apparent general willingness to change multiple behaviours are discussed, as well as potential implications for health promotion practice.     

Health performance of individuals within the Campbell paradigm

In this paper, we developed a comprehensive health performance measure that formally links individual health attitudes with the likelihood of engaging in a wide variety of health‐related behaviours from various domains such as sustenance, hygiene, and physical exercise. Within what Kaiser, Byrka, and Hartig (2010) call the Campbell paradigm, we equated general health attitude with what a person does to retain or promote his or her health. Thus, health behaviours, on one hand, were expected to form a homogeneous, transitively ordered class of behaviours. On the other hand, the very behavioural class was in turn thought to be the basis from which an individual's health attitude could be directly assessed. A sample of 391 adults provided us with survey data containing different sets of health behaviours as well as variables and personality measures that had been corroborated as health‐behaviour relevant in previous research. We found that self‐reports of 50 behaviours and expressions of appreciation for 20 of these behaviours from various domains formed a transitively ordered class of activities. In contrast to the conventional view in health psychology, in which attitudes are regarded as a psychological cause behind individual behaviour, and in contrast to conventional findings in health psychology, where behaviours appear to fall into numerous sets of more or less distinct domains of health‐enhancing activities (e.g., exercising or avoiding risks), our findings speak of the psychological and formal unity of health behaviour. Inevitably, attitude measures grounded in the Campbell paradigm gauge individual attitudes, and just as much, they measure the health performance of individuals.     

Health-related behaviour and personality trait development in adulthood

This investigation explored the contribution of a healthy lifestyle to personality trait stability and change during adulthood. A nationally representative sample of 11,133 Australian adults completed self-report measures of health-related behaviour and personality traits at baseline (2010) and again four years later (2014). Results showed that physical activity and alcohol intake, and to a lesser extent diet and cigarette smoking, were important for mean-level change and intra-individual stability of personality for all trait dimensions. Moreover, positive health behaviours were associated with less of a decrease in extraversion and more of an increase in openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness over four years.These findings suggest that healthy living might help to facilitate desirable personality trait stability and change during adulthood.     

Autonomy and reactions to health-risk information

It has been suggested that autonomy promotes enhanced reflection on novel information and reduces defensive or biased information processing. This study investigated how autonomy affected people's reactions to known versus novel health-risk information in relation to three behaviours: sun exposure, alcohol consumption and salt intake. Participants (N = 321) completed a measure of autonomy, read either known or novel health-risk information and reported their relative autonomous motivation, attitudes, perceived behavioural control, subjective norm and intentions towards reducing the health-risk behaviour concerned. In line with our hypotheses, the results showed that higher autonomy participants reported greater relative autonomous motivation towards reducing health-risk behaviours than did lower autonomy participants; this effect was mediated by perceptions of the information as less freedom-threatening. The expected interaction between Autonomy and Information Type was not observed. The results indicate that autonomy is associated with greater relative autonomous motivation to engage in health behaviours, and that autonomous motivation may subsequently influence intentions to reduce health-risk behaviour following exposure to health-risk information.     

Examination stress and changes in mood and health related behaviours

Abstract

The present exploratory study evaluated the effect of stress (an examination period) on changes in mood and health related behaviours. 83 medical students completed measures of mood and health related bchaviours at baseline and four weeks later either during their examinations period (the stress condition) or after a comparative control period (the control condition). All subjects also completed ratings of stress mediating variables: social support, perceived control and coping style at baseline. The results showed deterioration in mood in terms of increases in depression and anxiety and changes in health related behaviours in terms of increased numbers of subjects who identified thcmsehes as smokers, and dcmascs in alcohol consumption, exercise and food intake in subjects in the stress condition. The results also suggest that social support moderated the effects of the examination stress and was related to greater decreases in smoking, decrcases in alcohol craving and increases in eating behaviour. In addition, an avoidance coping style (problem avoidance, wishful thinking) was related to greater decreases in eating behaviour. 'Ihe nsults an discussed in the context of the stress/illness link and the role of behavioural change.     

Impulsivity as a predictor of newly-diagnosed peptic ulcer disease: A prospective cohort study

We examined the role of impulsivity in the development of peptic ulcer disease (PUD). The subjects were initially healthy 4636 hospital employees aged 19–62 who responded to a questionnaire on personality, health habits, mental health, and PUD in 1998 and 2000. We used multivariate logistic analyses to determine the relationship between impulsivity and newly-diagnosed PUD among those employees who did not have PUD at baseline. Impulsivity was assessed with the Karolinska Scale of Personality. High level of impulsivity was associated with increased 2-year incidence of doctor-diagnosed PUD after adjustment of age, gender, education and shift work (odds ratio = 2.42, 95% confidence interval = 1.21–4.82). Additional adjustment for the effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, physical activity, minor psychiatric morbidity and diagnosed depression and other psychiatric disease had little effect on this relationship. The present study suggests that impulsivity may be a risk factor for the development of PUD.     

The relationship between religion and health-related behaviours in patients with borderline personality disorder

With addictive disorders frequently co-occurring among patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), exploring factors that may influence health-related behaviours, like religious involvement, is important. This study assesses whether religious involvement is associated with smoking and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in BPD subjects. This study used data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), which used the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule–DSM-IV (AUDADIS-IV) as its assessment instrument. The AUDADIS-IV assessed personality disorders, tobacco usage, the presence of AUDs, and religious involvement. Attending a place of worship and weekly or more frequent worship attendance were significantly associated with reduced likelihood of current smoking and AUDs among BPD subjects. AUDs were also significantly less common in those reporting higher subjective religiousness. In conclusion, people with BPD who are religiously inclined are less likely to engage in addictive behaviours, specifically smoking and AUDs.     

Resisting temptation: alcohol specific self-efficacy mediates the impacts of compensatory health beliefs and behaviours on alcohol consumption

Awareness of health risks linked with excessive alcohol consumption appears to have little influence on how much some people drink. Compensatory health beliefs (CHBs), in which the consequences of unhealthy behaviour are considered to be neutralised by additional healthy behaviours, are one way of justifying poor health choices. Currently, the role of CHBs within the context of drinking behaviour is not well understood. This research examined associations between alcohol specific compensatory health beliefs (ACH-Beliefs) and behaviours (ACH-Behaviours), alcohol consumption and alcohol specific self-efficacy (ASE), via an online survey completed by 249 participants, aged 18 + years (63.1% female; M age = 41.62 years; SD = 14.80). Higher ACH-Beliefs were associated with increases in ACH-Behaviours. While both predicted alcohol consumption, a greater proportion of variance was explained by ACH-Behaviours. ASE was a significant mediator of those relationships, suggesting that those with higher ASE may be better equipped to regulate drinking behaviour. Recommendations for future research include measuring both CHBs and behaviours within an experimental design, and further investigation of related cognitions such as compensatory behaviour intentions. Alcohol misuse interventions may wish to consider the potential roles of CHBs and behaviours in facilitating maladaptive coping strategies, and how addressing these may reduce harms.     

Attitude Towards Premarital Sex among Rural College Youth in Maharashtra,India

Little is known about the risky sexual behaviour, misconceptions and attitudes regarding sexuality and sexual health among rural youth in India. In order to understand these aspects, quantitative data were collected among 1,500 rural college students (800 male and 700 female) in the age group 15–24 years in the Thane district of Maharashtra, India, during 2004. Analysis of variance and regression analysis were performed using the total mean score of attitude towards sexuality as the dependent variable to determine the association and relationship, respectively, with background and familial characteristics. The results clearly showed that the majority of the students in the study expressed conservative attitudes towards premarital sexuality. Many students not only disagreed with casual sex but also considered it immoral. Gender bias i.e. permitting premarital sex for males and not for females, was reflected in their attitudes to some extent. Mean score indicated that male students had higher mean scores compared with their female counterparts and senior students compared with junior students, indicating more liberal attitudes towards sexuality. Bivariate analysis showed positive association between age; peer interaction; erotic exposure; habits of gutaka, tobacco, smoking and alcohol consumption; and knowledge about reproductive health issues with attitudes towards various sexuality issues. Multivariate analysis showed that female students studying in the commerce and science faculties were more liberal in attitude towards sexuality when compared with female students from the arts faculty. Male students with high erotic exposure (odds ratio 2.3); habits of gutaka, tobacco, smoking and alcohol consumption (odds ratio 2.7); and high peer interaction (odds ratio 2.3) had higher attitudinal scores indicated more liberal attitudes. Overall, the majority of the students expressed conservative attitudes towards premarital sex. The programme on sexuality education and responsibility for in-school adolescents should be launched early in secondary schools/college at an early stage of the perception process and formulation of attitudes towards sexuality. This would provide students with more scientific information and deter them from gathering incomplete information through sources such as pornography and peers.     

A comparison of health behaviours in lonely and non-lonely populations

Loneliness can be defined as perceived social isolation and appears to be a relatively common experience in adults. It carries a significant health risk and has been associated with heart disease, depression and poor recovery after coronary heart surgery. The mechanisms that link loneliness and morbidity are unclear but one of the mechanisms may be through poor health beliefs and behaviours. The aims of this cross-sectional survey of 1289 adults were to investigate differences in health behaviours (smoking, overweight, BMI, sedentary, attitudes towards physical activity) in lonely and non-lonely groups. Lonely individuals were more likely to be smokers and more likely to be overweight - obese. The lonely group had higher body mass index scores controlling for age, annual income, gender, employment and marital status. Logistic regression revealed no differences in sedentary lifestyles. Lonely individuals were significantly less likely to believe it was desirable for them to lose weight by walking for recreation, leisure or transportation. The findings provide support for an association between health behaviours, loneliness and excess morbidity reported in previous studies.     

Personality types and risky health behaviors in Norwegian students

Typological research has received increasing interest in recent years, but is still regarded as substandard by personality psychologists. The current investigation shows how a typological approach can enhance our understanding of the influence of personality on risky health behaviors. We focused on Torgersen's eight personality types that represent unique configurations of high and low Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Constraint (Vollrath & Torgersen, 2000). Participants were 606 Norwegian university students. Measures assessed personality factors, smoking, abuse of drugs and alcohol, drunk driving, and risky sexual behaviors. Results replicated earlier research showing that types combining either high Extraversion and low Constraint (Hedonists, Impulsives) or high Neuroticism and low Constraint (Insecures) engage in more risky health behaviors. The discussion focuses on demonstrating that the study of types is a valuable supplement to the dimensional tradition in personality psychology.     

Religious Attendance and Social Support: Integration or Selection?

Although numerous studies have shown that religious attendance is associated with greater social support, concerns remain about selection into religious attendance and more supportive relationships. In this paper, we employ data collected from the 2011 Miami-Dade Health Survey (n?=?444) to assess the extent to which the association between religious attendance and social support is due to selection processes related to personality, health behavior, and health status. In our multinomial logistic regression of attendance, we find that the odds of weekly attendance are increased by extraversion and reduced by smoking. We also observe that religious attendance does not vary according to level of agreeableness, self-esteem, alcohol consumption, psychological distress, or physical health. In our regression of support, we find that respondents who attend religious services weekly or more tend to report more social support than respondents who never attend. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race, immigrant status, interview language, education, employment status, household income, financial strain, marital status (parent and respondent), the presence of children, family difficulties, personality (agreeableness, extroversion, and self-esteem), health behavior (smoking, binge drinking, and substance use), and health status (psychological distress, activity limitations, and overall physical health). Across models, the association between weekly attendance and social support is attenuated by no more than 7%. This attenuation is due to personality (extraversion), not health behavior or health status. We conclude that the association between religious attendance and social support is primarily driven by integration processes rather than any selection processes we have considered.