Health Risk Behaviors Research Articles

Using physical health apps to promote healthy lifestyles in youth mental healthcare: A nationwide perspective-gathering exercise of over 400 service users

Digital technologies have presented a myriad of new solutions for improving cardiometabolic and behavioural health in the general population. However, the ways in which such advances could be applied to address the heightened health-risk behaviours and associated diseases in mental healthcare is unknown. To examine this, 492 young people with mental illness (YPMI) were recruited from 27 Primary Care and NHS mental healthcare sites across the UK, covering various diagnoses (excluding eating disorders). Participants were presented with four types of physical health apps, delivering: 1) Health Tracking; 2) Health Coaching; 3) Health Connections; and 4) Instructional Videos, and completed an online perspective-gathering exercise on the preferred utility, features, behavioural targets of these technologies, and barriers/facilitators to uptake. Results showed a high level of perceived utility across each of the four app types, with physical activity, sleep and diet emerging as preferred behavioural targets. Feedback on ideal app features indicated a need for integrated physical-mental health tracking, and expert-led instructional content/coaching, with less interest expressed towards sharing data with clinical teams. These findings can improve the development, future trials, and clinical implementation of digital lifestyle interventions in mental healthcare, through better accounting for the needs and preferences of YPMI.

Work hours and the risk of hypertension: the case of Indonesia

BackgroundIndividuals working excessive hours is a worldwide phenomenon. In Indonesia, over 32 million people work more than 40 h per week, contributing to around 26% of the workforce. Excessive working may affect health, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. Hypertension affected around 34% of Indonesian adults, approximately 63.3 million people and led to about 427,000 deaths in 2018, and the prevalence remains high at 29.2% in 2023. This study aims to analyze the relationship between work hours and the risk of hypertension among working individuals in Indonesia.MethodsThis study used a pooled cross-sectional data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) wave 4 (2007) and wave 5 (2014) and performed a logit regression analysis to examine the likelihood of a working individual having hypertension based on the individual’s work hours. A dummy variable of hypertension is created based on the result of blood pressure measurement. The sample consists of 22,500 working individuals in Indonesia. This study controlled for job characteristics, sociodemographic status and health-behavioral risk factors such as BMI and smoking behavior, and performed additional regression analyses for alternative models to check for robustness.ResultsOur findings showed that there is a higher probability of having hypertension for workers who work longer hours by 0.06% points for each additional hour of work (p < 0.01). Other factors such as physical activity and smoking behavior have also been demonstrated to be significantly correlated to the risk of hypertension.ConclusionsThis study revealed a positive relationship between work hours and hypertension. Although this study cannot suggest causality, the strongly significant correlation may provide an idea and an overview regarding the risk of hypertension among working individuals in Indonesia. The Indonesian government could consider conducting further studies to implement and promote flexible working arrangements initiatives and incentive programs to improve workers’ health outcomes.

Application-based Reproductive Health Education on Reproductive Health Risk Behavior among Adolescents in Ternate City

Application-based Reproductive Health Education on Reproductive Health Risk Behavior among Adolescents in Ternate City

Social and emotional competencies in Portuguese incarcerated males: psychometric properties of the SEC-Q questionnaire and their relation to health risk behaviors

This study departs from the acknowledged absence of validated measures to assess social and emotional competencies in incarcerated individuals. This is a critical gap given that most available programs aimed at fostering prosocial behavior and reducing antisocial behaviors are theoretically based on enhancing these competencies. This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Social and Emotional Competencies Questionnaire (SEC-Q) in a sample of 219 Portuguese incarcerated males (M age = 37.21 years, SD = 10.61), and to explore the impact of the SEC-Q dimensions on health risk behaviors in this population. The study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the factor structure of the SEC-Q. The four-factor model fitted well to the data (SB χ2 = 267.75; df = 120; Robust CFI = 0.99; Robust RMSEA = 0.06), and, as expected, it includes four dimensions: self-awareness, self-management and motivation, social awareness and prosocial behavior, and decision-making. The four dimensions showed appropriate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 74–81; McDonald’s omega = 75–82). Additionally, social and emotional competencies were related to higher self-control (rs=0.45, p <.01) and lower health risk behaviors (rs = − 0.25, p <.01), supporting convergent and divergent validity. Findings from the negative binomial regression suggest that higher social awareness and prosocial behavior is related to less health risk behaviors among incarcerated males. This study is a pivotal step to promote an affordable and valid measure to assess social and emotional competencies among Portuguese justice-involved males. SEC-Q can be an important complementary measure for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing criminal recidivism.

Research progress in stroke risk perception assessment tool.

One of the main illnesses in the globe that causes impairment and death in people is stroke. In the globe today, it ranks as the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of death in China. This paper analyses into the critical role of risk perception in developing individual awareness of stroke risk and encouraging proactive preventive health behaviors, essential for effective primary stroke prevention strategies and reduced stroke incidence. It discusses the concept of risk perception, the content and dimensions of global stroke assessment tools, and their application status, aiming to provide insights for their development and intervention research. Risk perception encompasses subjective assessments of stroke likelihood and severity, influenced by personal experiences, knowledge of risk factors, beliefs about prevention effectiveness, and emotional responses. Global stroke assessment tools, like the Framingham Stroke Risk Score and CHA2DS2-VASc Score, evaluate stroke risk based on factors such as age, gender, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. In order to improve risk perception and proactive health management and lower the burden of strokes, the paper assesses the advantages and disadvantages of these tools and makes recommendations for improving accessibility, customizing interventions, running educational campaigns, promoting multidisciplinary collaboration, and integrating technology. By combining the research tools of stroke risk perception, it is found that the evaluation tools are mostly single-dimensional evaluation tools centered on the two dimensions of onset possibility and susceptibility. Some scholars have developed multi-dimensional evaluation tools, but the evaluation population is relatively limited, and the evaluation system lacks comprehensiveness and systematization.

Mental Health Study and Psychological Factors Impacting the Behaviour Among College Students in India

Health risk behaviour, sometimes referred to as health impairing behaviour, is dangerous when it comes to children since it might have unfavourable consequences that last into adulthood. Although not entirely inherited, anxiety disorders can also result from the use of drugs, such as alcohol and caffeine, as well as the withdrawal from particular medications. They frequently occur in conjunction with other mental health issues, including actual depression, bipolar disorder, identity issues, and food issues. The phrase "nervousness" refers to four types of contacts that a person may experience: dissociative unease, physical tension, mental fear, and bodily symptoms. Feelings associated with unease range from mild anxiety to depressive bouts. While there are other psychological and therapeutic conditions that can mimic the signs of a tension disorder, this study outlines the elements that contribute to anxiety and how they impact students' mental health. The results and conclusions of the data collection process using a questionnaire were presented by the researcher. The researcher also talked about some inferences drawn from the participants' comments in addition to this.

Developing a COVID-19 health risk behaviour assessment web application and online health education to promote a healthy university

Developing a COVID-19 health risk behaviour assessment web application and online health education to promote a healthy university

Developing a Chain Mediation Model of Recurrence Risk Perception and Health Behavior Among Patients With Stroke: A Cross-sectional Study

PurposeTo understand the recurrence risk perception of stroke patients and develop a chain mediation model of recurrence risk perception and health behavior. MethodsA cross-sectional study and convenience sampling were used. Stroke survivors were recruited from the neurology departments of three tertiary hospitals. Their recurrence risk perception, behavioral decision-making, social support, self-efficacy, recurrence worry and health behavior were measured by relevant tools. Data was analyzed through one-way analysis and regression analysis; and the AMOS 21.0 software was used to explore the mediating relationships between variables. ResultsOf the 419 participants, 74.7% were aware of stroke recurrence risk. However, only 28.2% could accurately estimate their own recurrence risk. Recurrence risk perception was significantly correlated with behavioral decision-making, social support, self-efficacy, and health behavior (r = .19 ∼ .50, p < .05). Social support and recurrence risk perception could affect health behavior indirectly through self-efficacy, behavioral decision-making and worry. Behavioral decision-making acted as a main mediator between recurrence risk perception and health behavior, while the path coefficient was .47 and .37, respectively. The chain mediation effect between recurrence risk perception and health behavior was established with a total effect value of .186 (p < .01). ConclusionMost stroke survivors could aware recurrence risk but failed to accurately estimate their individual risk. In the mediation model of recurrence risk perception and health behavior, social support seemed to be an important external factor, while self-efficacy, behavioral decision-making and worry seemed to act as key internal factor. RegistrationThe research project was registered on 29 June 2020 (CTR200003XXXX).

Different concepts of neighborhood safety and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Neighborhood safety is defined inconsistently across epidemiologic studies - a conceptual problem that results in incomparable measurements, hampering the design of health interventions. Using child behavior problems (measured via the Child Behavior Checklist) as the outcome of interest, this study directly compared four measures of neighborhood safety: two of experienced safety and two of perceived safety, with each one measured at family and community levels. These included children's direct experience of harm, parental perceptions, community crime statistics, and community perceptions. In a sample of 3291 ten-year-olds from the Generation R cohort (living in municipal Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2013), all four measures were correlated (χ2 ≥ 9.2, P < 0.002 in pairwise chi-square comparisons), but ultimately identified different levels of risk for behavioral health. Direct experiences of harm, parental perceptions, and community crime statistics were all associated with increased child internalizing behaviors (β = 3.12, β = 2.10, and β = 1.77, respectively), while only experiences of harm and parental perceptions were associated with increased externalizing behaviors (β = 2.75 and β = 1.31, respectively). These results provide novel evidence that the conceptual distinctions underlying different measures of neighborhood safety are meaningful for child mental health and should be considered in intervention design.

HabitSense: A Privacy-Aware, AI-Enhanced Multimodal Wearable Platform for mHealth Applications

Wearable cameras provide an objective method to visually confirm and automate the detection of health-risk behaviors such as smoking and overeating, which is critical for developing and testing adaptive treatment interventions. Despite the potential of wearable camera systems, adoption is hindered by inadequate clinician input in the design, user privacy concerns, and user burden. To address these barriers, we introduced HabitSense, an open-source1, multi-modal neck-worn platform developed with input from focus groups with clinicians (N=36) and user feedback from in-wild studies involving 105 participants over 35 days. Optimized for monitoring health-risk behaviors, the platform utilizes RGB, thermal, and inertial measurement unit sensors to detect eating and smoking events in real time. In a 7-day study involving 15 participants, HabitSense recorded 768 hours of footage, capturing 420.91 minutes of hand-to-mouth gestures associated with eating and smoking data crucial for training machine learning models, achieving a 92% F1-score in gesture recognition. To address privacy concerns, the platform records only during likely health-risk behavior events using SECURE, a smart activation algorithm. Additionally, HabitSense employs on-device obfuscation algorithms that selectively obfuscate the background during recording, maintaining individual privacy while leaving gestures related to health-risk behaviors unobfuscated. Our implementation of SECURE has resulted in a 48% reduction in storage needs and a 30% increase in battery life. This paper highlights the critical roles of clinician feedback, extensive field testing, and privacy-enhancing algorithms in developing an unobtrusive, lightweight, and reproducible wearable system that is both feasible and acceptable for monitoring health-risk behaviors in real-world settings.

Health behaviour and wellbeing trends among Australian adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2017–2022): An interrupted time-series analysis

ObjectiveTo explore population-level trends in health behaviours and wellbeing indicators from before (2017–2019) to during (2020–2022) the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. MethodsUsing cross-sectional data from New South Wales Adult Population Health Surveys (2017–2022, n = 73,680 responses), we calculated weighted prevalence estimates and interrupted time-series logit models to investigate trends in health behavioural risk factors (vegetable and fruit intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, e-cigarette use), Body Mass Index (BMI) (overweight and obesity), and wellbeing indicators (psychological distress, self-rated health) among adults aged ≥ 16 years before and during the pandemic. ResultsFrom 2017 to 2022, the behavioural risk factors and BMI trends were mostly unchanged. Similarly, wellbeing indicator trends showed only minor variations according to age. The interrupted time-series models found marked changes from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic for e-cigarette use and self-rated health. E-cigarette use showed an overall increasing trend, with significant increases from 2017 to 2022 (OR 8.25, 95 %CI 6.10–11.16). Poor self-rated health showed a stable trend before COVID-19, but decreased in 2020 (OR 0.68, 95 %CI 0.58–0.80) and 2021 (OR 0.70, 95 %CI 0.60–0.81), returning to pre-COVID levels in 2022 (OR 1.23, 95 %CI 1.07–1.41). During the pandemic (2020–2022), there were few statistically significant observed changes in prevalence trends according to SES indicators. ConclusionAmong Australian adults, relatively small population-level impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health behaviours and wellbeing trends were observed. Continued surveillance and sub-group analyses are essential for investigating potential time-lagged effects and regional or sociodemographic differences in health behaviours and wellbeing.

Family Dynamics, Socioeconomic Hardships, and Health Risk Behaviours of Bulgarian Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study aims to explore family dynamics and the economic hardships experienced by families during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associations with adolescents' health risk behaviours (HRBs). Based on a representative study of adolescents aged 11-16 conducted in Bulgaria during the COVID-19 pandemic and HBSC data from the pre-pandemic period, logistic regression models were applied, assessing cigarette smoking, vaping, alcohol use, drunkenness, and cannabis use. The independent variables included demographics, Family Affluence Scale (FAS III), family structure, ease of communication with parents, and the authors' developed questions on parents' income and economic status change, family conflicts, and missing contact with extended family due to the pandemic. Material status of the family showed increasing differentials in adolescents' HRBs during the pandemic. Parental unemployment, income reduction, and temporary lay-offs were associated with a higher risk of substance use. Family conflicts, missing contact with extended family, and difficulties in communication with the mother were related to a higher risk of substance use. Communication with the father was significantly associated with alcohol use and drunkenness. Boys had lower odds of vaping and higher odds of alcohol use, drunkenness, and cannabis use. Higher age and minority status were associated with an increase in adolescents' HRBs. This study highlights the need for special family-focused interventions in times of health and economic crises.

Social environment, health cognition, and health behavior: how individuals with non-fixed employment end up with adverse health outcomes in China under the era of VUCA?-findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA.

This article studied the single-factor causal relationships between the social environment, health cognition, and health behavior of the individuals with non-fixed employment and their adverse health outcomes, as well as the complex causal relationships of multiple factors on these outcomes. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) are employed. Data is collected from the results of an open questionnaire Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents 2021. PLS-SEM analysis reveals that health risk behaviors and cognition play a mediating role in impact of the social environment on adverse health outcomes, indicating that individuals with non-fixed employment susceptible to adverse health outcomes. fsQCA analysis identifies that weak social support is a core condition leading to outcomes of depression and anxiety. There are shared configurations and causal pathways between the outcomes of physical health and depression. The study supports the social determinants theory of health and suggests that the fundamental reason for people being trapped in adverse health outcomes is the health inequality caused by social stratification, and the external shock of uncertainty in the era of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity).

Unhealthy weight control behaviors and health risk behaviors in American youth: a repeated cross-sectional study

BackgroundUnhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) involve weight control strategies to reduce or maintain weight, such as fasting, taking diet pills, and vomiting or taking laxatives. UWCBs in teenagers can escalate into severe health issues such as eating disorders. Understanding the trends of UWCBs and their association with risk behaviors in teenagers is crucial, as early intervention and prevention strategies are pivotal.MethodsThis study utilized eight waves of the youth risk behavior surveillance system (YRBSS) data from 1999 to 2013. Our primary outcome was UWCBs engagement. We used multinomial logistic models to analyze the association between UWCBs and risk behaviors among adolescents including driving after alcohol consumption, suicide attempts, smoking, alcohol use, and sexual intercourse.ResultsAmong 109,023 participants, UWCBs prevalence was 16.64%. Body Mass Index (BMI) was significantly associated with UWCBs risk. In addition, we found the intention of weight management confounded the relationship between BMI and UWCBs. The unadjusted logistic regression indicated a monotone-increasing association between BMI and the risk of UWCBs. In contrast, the adjusted logistic regression indicated a U-shaped curve with the lowest (BMI < 17 kg/m2) and highest (BMI > 30 kg/m2) BMI groups having significantly higher odds of engaging in UWCBs compared to the reference BMI group (18.5 ≤ BMI ≤ 24.9 kg/m2).ConclusionsThe intention of weight management confounded the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the risk of UWCBs. These findings suggest that healthcare interventions for weight management behaviors should be tailored to adolescents with BMI ≥ 25 and BMI < 18.5.

Child Maltreatment, Mental Health Disorders, and Health Risk Behaviors in People With Diverse Gender Identities.

This study examined rates of mental health disorders and health risk behaviors in people with diverse gender identities and associations with five types of child maltreatment. We used data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), a nationally representative survey of Australian residents aged 16 years and more, which was designed to understand the experience of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence). Mental disorders-major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), alcohol use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and health risk behaviors-smoking, binge drinking, cannabis dependence, self-harm, and suicide attempt in the past 12 months were assessed. People with diverse gender identities who experienced child maltreatment were significantly more likely to have GAD (43.3%; 95% CI [30.3, 56.2]) than those who had experienced child maltreatment who were either cisgender men (13.8%; [12.0, 15.5]) or cisgender women (17.4%; [15.7, 19.2]). Similarly, higher prevalence was found for PTSD (21.3%; [11.1, 31.5]), self-harm (27.8%; [17.1, 38.5]) and suicide attempt (7.2%; [3.1, 11.3]) for people with diverse gender identities. Trauma-informed approaches, attuned to the high likelihood of any child maltreatment, and the co-occurrence of different kinds may benefit people with diverse gender identities experiencing GAD, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, or other health risk behaviors.

Health Risk Behaviours Among Adolescents in Schools of Kavre

Health Risk Behaviours Among Adolescents in Schools of Kavre

Effect of a context-specific health education intervention on knowledge of health risk behaviors among adolescents in Nigerian public and private secondary schools: a comparative study.

Health education programmes that utilizes multicomponent classroom teaching strategies have the potential to enhance knowledge, attitudes, and actions of adolescents concerning health risk behaviors (HRBs). This study assessed the effect of a school-based context-specific health education intervention (CsHEI) on knowledge of HRBs among in-school adolescents in public- and private-owned secondary schools in Nigeria. In-school adolescents were recruited into this quasi-experimental study using stratified random sampling from secondary schools in Ile-Ife, Osun-State, Nigeria. Knowledge of HRBs was assessed pre- and post-implementation of a CsHEI. The intervention was a four-week instructor-led health education class on HRBs, delivered over a 2-h class activity per week. Data was summarized using descriptive statistics as well as Inferential statistics. With a mean age of 14.9 ± 1.56 years, a total of 145 females (54.3 %) and 122 males (45.7 %) participated in this study. Over 70 % of the participants had good knowledge of HRBs prior to the intervention with the pre-test mean general knowledge of HRB (t=-3.13, p=0.002) and knowledge of personal safety (t=-2.99, p=0.003) being significantly lower between students in public-schools compared to their private-school counterparts. Post-intervention, a significant improvement in participants' knowledge was observed in all HRB domains with over 90 % of participants having a good knowledge of HRBs. The CsHEI improved knowledge of in-school adolescents in public- and private-owned secondary schools in Osun state, Nigeria in all domains of HRBs. Integrating the CsHEI with other health behavioral change strategies can mitigate prevalence of HRBs among adolescents, thereby improving health-outcomes and well-being of adolescents.

Core outcome sets for trials of interventions to prevent and to treat multimorbidity in adults in low and middle-income countries: the COSMOS study

IntroductionThe burden of multimorbidity is recognised increasingly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), creating a strong emphasis on the need for effective evidence-based interventions. Core outcome sets (COS) appropriate for...

Health determinants among participants in targeted health dialogues offered to all 40-year-old individuals in a metropolitan region of 1.4 million people

Objective To examine cardiovascular risk factors in 40-year-old participants in the health screening program targeted health dialogues (THDs). Design Cross-sectional study. Setting 99 Swedish healthcare centers. Intervention Metabolic risk factors and health behaviors were assessed. THDs were provided. Subjects 1831 (62.3%) THD participants that consented to take part in the research project. Main outcome measures (1) Prevalence of metabolic risk factors (blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, BMI, waist-hip ratio) and unhealthy behaviors (tobacco, alcohol, diet, physical activity) by sex, education, and place of birth. (2) Associations between different health behaviors and between the number of unhealthy behaviors and prevalence of metabolic risk factors. (3) THD participation by sociodemographics compared to age-matched controls. Results Men had a higher prevalence of all metabolic risk factors, excessive alcohol use and tobacco use than women. Lower educated individuals had a higher prevalence of metabolic risk factors (except for LDL cholesterol) and tobacco use than highly educated. Participants born outside Sweden had a higher prevalence of obesity, high waist-hip ratio, and tobacco use. Participants with 3–4 unhealthy behaviors had significantly higher prevalence of each of the metabolic risk factors except BMI. Women, highly educated and Swedish-born participants were slightly over-represented in the THDs. Conclusion Considering the associations between unhealthy behaviors and metabolic risk factors, the THD method, covering lifestyle as well as objective health measures, may be an appropriate method for early identification of individuals at risk for future non-communicable diseases in the whole population with a specific focus on certain groups. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04912739

Sexual Identity Continuity and Change in a U.S. National Probability Sample of Sexual Minority Adults: Associations With Mental Health and Problematic Substance Use.

Sexual minority disparities in behavioral health (e.g., mental health and substance use) are well-established. However, sexual identity is dynamic, and changes are common across the life course (e.g., identifying with a monosexual [lesbian or gay] label and later with a plurisexual [queer, pansexual, etc.] label). This study assessed whether behavioral health risks coincide with sexual identity change among sexual minority people. Associations in a 3-year U.S. national probability sample of sexual minority adults were assessed between sexual minority identity change (consistently monosexual [N=400; 44.3% weighted], consistently plurisexual [N=239; 46.7% weighted], monosexual to plurisexual [N=19; 4.2% weighted], and plurisexual to monosexual [N=25; 4.8% weighted]) and five behavioral health indicators (psychological distress, social well-being, number of poor mental health days in the past month, problematic alcohol use, and problematic use of other drugs), controlling for demographic characteristics and baseline behavioral health. Among female participants, monosexual-to-plurisexual identity change (vs. consistently monosexual identity) was associated with greater psychological distress (B=3.41, SE=1.13), lower social well-being (B=-0.61, SE=0.25), and more days of poor mental health in the past month (B=0.69 [Bexp=1.99], SE=0.23). Among male participants, plurisexual-to-monosexual identity change (vs. consistently plurisexual identity) was associated with lower social well-being (B=-0.56, SE=0.25), and identity change (regardless of type) was generally associated with increased problematic use of alcohol and other drugs. Sexual identity change is an important consideration for sexual minority behavioral health research, with changes (vs. consistency) in identity being an important risk factor for compromised behavioral health. Prevention and treatment interventions may need to tailor messaging to sexual minority men and women differently.