Free research paper about research on lifestyle habits of college students

Abstract

The research paper focuses on the evaluation of lifestyle and habits of college students. 377 youths participated in the research study. The respondents aged between 18 and 25 years. Responses were generated through face-to-face and web-based sessions. Data reducing techniques were applied to develop abbreviated measures. Relationship of lifestyle domains and well being indicators were examined. Eight lifestyle domains with good properties were identified. The research encouraged the application of LHQ-B during lifestyle research, to enhance awareness among young adults (Hudd, 2014).

Introduction

The three articles discussed in this paper illustrate the lifestyle changes experienced by the youths, especially college students. The early youthful stage of individuals, from late adolescence to early childhood, is very significant in imparting health related issues, attitudes or behavior. The lifestyle behavior is continuously formed during this youthful period. The long term trends of the behavior are directly related to later life health results. The college duration, for many young people, illustrates a change to be responsible and autonomous adulthood. The students experience many new issues and choices; for example, accommodation, meals, accommodation, entertainment, physical activities, and substance use (Mark & Richard, 1997). The youthful stage is the best time to provide adequate information on the preventive health issues. University researchers and health practitioners have adequate access to colleges, and hence the targeted population. The access is mainly through; classroom discussions, academic events, professional seminars, and social media communications. Health information appropriate for the youth is passed through the access avenues. Academic programs that provide information on healthy lifestyles; have continuously realized success in assisting students determine healthy choices (Hudd, 2014).
One important aspect of lifestyle research entails adequate evaluation of the behaviors or attitudes that are applicable in the health of the youths. The health of the students entails the level of adequate social, physical and also psychological well being. The meaning of health is multidirectional and illustrates the most significant aspect of overall well-being. Many research studies explain that health enhancing behaviors increase the self-esteem, psychological well being and overall life satisfaction. The health enhancing behavior includes; physical exercise, drug-free life and proper nutrition. Overall well being leads to minimal stress or depression levels. There are two questionnaires that are applied in analyzing the lifestyle issues of people (Thomas, 2013). The questionnaires are; the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP II) and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire (PLQ). PLQ applies six factors and 24 items in determining health enhancing activities. The factors are; safety, exercise, substance use, nutrition, relaxation and substance prevention. HPLP II uses 52 items to study the six health promoting issues. The issues are; stress management, physical activity, spiritual development, proper nutrition, health choices and physical activity. The two questionnaires were developed through the adult samples; however, continuous review has been done to ensure it is appropriate for the college students (Hudd, 2014).
Some aspects overlap in the two questionnaires; for example, nutrition and physical activity. On the other hand, there are aspects that do not overlap; for example, interpersonal relations or substance use. An approach should be developed to collect all information from the two types of questionnaires. The current questionnaires entail inadequate feedback to the respondents. The feedback should illustrate lifestyle areas that need improvement (Mark & Richard, 1997). Post-evaluation feedback is necessary for illustrating the improvement areas in terms of long term problems. Feedback illustrates the intervention measure that enhances change. Empirical studies should illustrate the benefits of feedback to students who have difficult lifestyle behaviors. However, there are also instances where lifestyle is analyzed without giving feedback. This is especially realized using standard questionnaires (Hudd, 2014).

Method

The measures used in the research are the Lifestyle and Habits Questionnaire. The measures collected data based on 80 items. The measure entails self-assessment tools that analyze the lifestyle actions of the college students who took apart in the study. The measure was meant to identify ten aspects of health. The aspects are; physical health, substance use, exercise, preventive, weight control, social health, spiritual, accident prevention and environmental health. Every domain has eight issues rated from 1 to five; strongly disagree and strongly agree respectively (Hudd, 2014).
Quality of Life Inventory entails 32 self-report items that analyze the overall satisfaction of the respondents in the 16 life aspects like; health, interrelationships, living environment and self-esteem. Participants explain the significance of each domain and the corresponding satisfaction in the domain. The ratings may be applied in developing an international life satisfaction measure. Statistical analysis entails the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was applied in reviewing the lifestyle measure. PCA was identified because the main aim of the analysis is data reduction, and not illustration of latent factors (Hudd, 2014).

Results

Data analysis was conducted through the SPSS statistical software. The identified probabilities were two-tailed. PCA was applied in the statistical procedure, due to the data reduction aims. Five redundant items were removed from the research, after adequate analysis. The items overlapped. Varimax rotation was applied during the study to increase solution interpretability. Screen analysis illustrated eight-component results. The cumulative variance applied was 42%; this is similar to other brief measure used in the paper. The eight components showed appropriate internal consistency; the alpha coefficient was between fair and excellent; 0. 65 and 0. 91 respectively. The components that cross-loaded on two or more aspects were dropped. However, certain aspects were retained. They had a grater cross loading than the 0. 32 cutoff. The items were maintained due to appropriate content representation. The content representation entails a theory directed strategy that enhances structural validity. Finally, 42 items were chosen for the final questionnaire (Hudd, 2014).
ANOVA was applied in analyzing the demographic aspects of the participants; for example, ethnicity, age or sex. Pearson correlation coefficient illustrated significant positive relationship of quality of life and the eight lifestyle domains. Hierarchical linear regression is utilized in identifying if the eight lifestyle issues illustrated quality of life. Sex and ethnicity factors were also introduced in the regression model, to illustrate demographic effects on the model. The most effective quality of life illustrator was found to be the psychological health. Pearson correlation coefficient described the negative linear relationship with the current stress levels (Hudd, 2014).

Discussion

One of the main goals of the research is to produce an appropriate and effective life measure that is available to researchers, teacher and health workers. The LHQ-B measure is usually self-administered; this enables instant feedback on the life domains. The current format enables analysis of lifestyle issues through several campus environments; for example, health counseling, student orientation, classroom instruction, and student research. Data was also generated concerning the reliability and also the validity of LHQ-B measure approach. The internal reliability ranged between fair and excellent in the eight applicable lifestyle domain. The respondents gave consistent information. The research on lifestyle illustrates the motivation to understand the factors that enhance the health and overall well being of people. Each lifestyle domain was found to be positively correlated to the QOL factors (Hudd, 2014).
The regression results indicate great scores on the lifestyle domains of physical, psychological and exercise health. The results are in line with research theories; where psychological issues are very influential in determining QOL scores and health issues that affect students. Enhanced stress levels were determined by lower item ratings, in terms of the domains of exercise, physical health and psychological health (Thomas, 2013). Previous research illustrates negative relationship of stress, and physical or self-esteem levels. But, it is seen that exercise and physical health are not the most appropriate indicators of stress levels. This indicates that the relationship between physical activity and stress levels is more complex (Hudd, 2014). The generated research information is useful in making preventive programs that can be effectively used in college campuses. The research recommends that further research be conducted on enhancing the applicability of the LHQ-B measure on other population outside the college environment (Hudd, 2014).

References

Hudd, H et al. (2014). Stress at College: Effects on Health habits, Health Status and Self-Esteem. College Student Journal, Vol. 34, Issue 2.
Mark, A. & Richard, H. (1997). Life Changes Scaling for the 1990. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 279-292.
Thomas, J. (2013). The Development of the Lifestyle and Habits Questionnaire-Brief Version: Relationship to Quality of Life and Stress in College Students. Society for Prevention