Research on the relationship between sensation seeking, personality charateristic and health-risk behaviors of medical freshmen

Abstract

Objective To study the relationship between sensation seeking,personality characteristics and health-risk behaviors of medical freshmen.Methods Sensation Seeking Scale ( SSS),Eysenck Personality Questionnaire( EPQ),Adolescent Health-Risk Behaviors Questionnaire were applied in this survey to 384 freshmen from two medical colleges.Results ① The health risk behaviors were comnmon in the medical college freshmen (5.2％,48.2％ ),and the score of health risk behaviors had a significant difference between boys and girls,boys risk behaviors were much more than girls(P＜ 0.05 ).②The correlations between the risk behaviors (such as smoking,drinking,fighting,suicidal ideas,using internet too long,poor eating behavior,lack of physical exercise) and sensation seeking personality traits were strong.The health-risk behaviors were all correlated with extraversion(E)and neuroticism (N) significantly( 66.78 ± 10.29 vs 60.57 ± 9.09,t =2.54,P ＜ 0.01 ;7.11 ± 3.23 vs 5.33 ±2.89,t =2.81,P ＜ 0.05 ).③The results of logistic regression analysis showed that male mother' s high education level,sensation seeking,Eysenck' s P,N dimension were effective prediction factors of freshmen ' s health-risk behaviors.Conclusion Medical college freshmen who have higher levels of sensation seeking,Eysenck' s P,N dimension are more prone to health risk behaviors. Key words: Sensation seeking; Health-risk behaviors; Medical students