Social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors in web-based research: three longitudinal studies.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Crutzen R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996374 | biostudies-other | 2010
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors in web-based research: three longitudinal studies.
Crutzen Rik R Göritz Anja S AS
BMC public health 20101123
<h4>Background</h4>These studies sought to investigate the relation between social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, drug use, smoking) in web-based research.<h4>Methods</h4>Three longitudinal studies (Study 1: N = 5612, 51% women; Study 2: N = 619, 60%; Study 3: N = 846, 59%) among randomly selected members of two online panels (Dutch; German) using several social desirability measures (Marlowe-Crowne Scale; Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding; The ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding the relationship between personal values, well-being, and health-related behavior could facilitate the development of engaging, effective digital interventions for promoting well-being and the healthy lifestyles of citizens. Although the associations between well-being and values have been quite extensively studied, the knowledge about the relationship between health behaviors and values is less comprehensive.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess retrospectively the associations between self-reported values and commitment to values combined with self-reported well-being and health behaviors from a large cross-sectional dataset.MethodsWe analyzed 101,130 anonymous responses (mean age 44.78 years [SD 13.82]; 78.88%, 79,770/101,130 women) to a Finnish Web survey, which were collected as part of a national health promotion campaign. The data regarding personal values were unstructured, and the self-reported value items were classified into value types based on the Schwartz value theory and by applying principal component analysis. Logistic and multiple linear regression were used to explore the associations of value types and commitment to values with well-being factors (happiness, communal social activity, work, and family-related distress) and health behaviors (exercise, eating, smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep).ResultsCommitment to personal values was positively related to happiness (part r2=0.28), communal social activity (part r2=0.09), and regular exercise (part r2=0.06; P<.001 for all). Health, Power (social status and dominance), and Mental balance (self-acceptance) values had the most extensive associations with health behaviors. Regular exercise, healthy eating, and nonsmoking increased the odds of valuing Health by 71.7%, 26.8%, and 40.0%, respectively (P<.001 for all). Smoking, unhealthy eating, irregular exercise, and increased alcohol consumption increased the odds of reporting Power values by 27.80%, 27.78%, 24.66%, and 17.35%, respectively (P<.001 for all). Smoking, unhealthy eating, and irregular exercise increased the odds of reporting Mental balance values by 20.79%, 16.67%, and 15.37%, respectively (P<.001 for all). In addition, lower happiness levels increased the odds of reporting Mental balance and Power values by 24.12% and 20.69%, respectively (P<.001 for all).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that commitment to values is positively associated with happiness and highlight various, also previously unexplored, associations between values and health behaviors.
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