Daily Health Behaviors Research Articles

Exploring the Benefits of Conscientiousness: An Investigation of the Role of Daily Stressors and Health Behaviors

This study investigated the impact of conscientiousness and its facets on health behaviors and daily hassles (stressors) and the moderating effects of conscientiousness on the hassles-health behavior relationship Four hundred and twenty-two employees completed daily diaries over 4 weeks. Day-to-day within-person effects of daily hassles on health behaviors were examined, together with the influence of conscientiousness. Using hierarchical multivariate linear modeling, the results showed that conscientiousness was associated with lower consumption of high-fat snacks and more fruit and higher caffeine intake and smoking (in smokers) across the 28-day study period. Facets of conscientiousness were also found to moderate the effects of daily hassles on vegetable consumption, smoking, and likelihood of exercising each day. Participants with higher levels of order exercised more on days when they experienced daily hassles, whereas participants with lower levels of self-efficacy consumed less vegetables on stressful days. Among smokers, those with higher levels of self-discipline reported smoking more on days when they encountered hassles. These findings indicate that conscientiousness and its facets may influence health status directly via changes in health behaviors and indirectly through influencing stress-health behavior relations.

Will the role of family influence dental caries among seven-year-old children?

The present study analyzed the prevalence of dental caries as well as associations of dental health and family competence among 7-year-old children and their families. Dental caries status was the outcome variable of the 7-year prospective follow-up study. Pre-tested questionnaires were used to gather data individually from the parents at six points in time (at the public maternity health-care clinic during the mother's pregnancy and at childbirth, at the well-baby clinic at 18 months, and at ages 3, 5, and 7 years). Clinical examinations at dental health-care clinics were used to record dental status indicators of the child at ages 3, 5, and 7 years. A child had caries more often when the mother did not regard it as important to teach a healthy lifestyle right from birth; when the mother undervalued consistent action in child-rearing; when the father preferred merely to explain the causes and consequences during child-rearing (giving no examples); when the father had several new carious teeth per year; when the child consumed sweets several times a week; or when the child's toothbrushing was infrequent. The child's daily dental health behaviors and a strong influence of family competence emerged in the final logistic regression analysis. Dental and well-baby clinic staff members need to discuss consistency in child-rearing with the parents and there is a need for modeling adult dental health behaviors at the time of the mother's pregnancy if the child's future preventive dental health is to function properly.