Rakowski W, Wells B L, Lasater T M, Carleton R A
Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.
Am J Prev Med. 1991 Mar-Apr;7(2):89-94.
Perceived ability to change health habits successfully is undoubtedly an important factor underlying personal health behavior. This report examines expected success in changing future habits, using a sample of community-resident adults 18-65 years of age (n = 1,367). One set of analyses used expected success as a dependent variable, whereas another set used it as an independent variable for health behavior and knowledge indices. In the dependent variable analysis, results showed that reported past success at health habit change was the strongest predictor of success expected in the future. Optimism about future success was also associated with variables that already placed individuals at an advantage to change behavior (e.g., not smoking, regular exercise, lower Body Mass Index, support in the family). When used as a predictor variable, expected future success was not associated with five health-related, self-report indices of behavior, knowledge, and perceived risk. Further examination showed, however, that in three instances the association between expected success and the outcome indices seemed to plateau in the most optimistic group. Extreme optimism (that admits no chance of failure) may be a belief characteristic that deserves further investigation, one that will present a challenge to research and practice. Men tended to report greater expected future success than women, although women had more favorable reports on three of the five health-related behavior/knowledge indices.
成功改变健康习惯的感知能力无疑是个人健康行为背后的一个重要因素。本报告以18 - 65岁的社区成年居民样本（n = 1367），研究了改变未来习惯的预期成功率。一组分析将预期成功率作为因变量，而另一组分析则将其作为健康行为和知识指标的自变量。在因变量分析中，结果显示，报告过去在改变健康习惯方面的成功是未来预期成功的最强预测因素。对未来成功的乐观态度也与那些已使个体在改变行为方面具有优势的变量相关（例如，不吸烟、定期锻炼、较低的体重指数、家庭支持）。当用作预测变量时，预期的未来成功与五个与健康相关的自我报告行为、知识和感知风险指标无关。然而，进一步的研究表明，在三种情况下，预期成功与结果指标之间的关联在最乐观的群体中似乎趋于平稳。极端乐观（即认为没有失败的可能性）可能是一种值得进一步研究的信念特征，这将给研究和实践带来挑战。男性往往比女性报告更高的未来预期成功率，尽管女性在五个与健康相关的行为/知识指标中的三个方面有更有利的报告。
