Plys Ekaterina, Desrichard Olivier
Health Psychology Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Front Psychol. 2020 Mar 3;11:334. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00334. eCollection 2020.
Why are people who suffer from depressive symptoms or chronic negative mood less likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle? We postulated that adoption of health goals (HGs) and health behaviors is impeded by negative affect (NA) and facilitated by positive affect (PA). Our aim was to assess the associations between NA and PA, measured as a state and as a trait, and perceptions of HGs and related means. In our studies we tested the relationship between perceptions of HGs and affect measured as a state and as a trait.
Participants in three online studies were asked to choose and evaluate a health goal (Studies 1-3) or a health goal and related means (Study 3). In Study 1 we used the personal project analysis to assess 10 dimensions of HGs, inter-goal interference, and inter-goal facilitation; in Studies 2 and 3 we used a specially designed questionnaire to assess the difficulty, attainability, controllability, and congruency with self-identity of HGs and related means. We used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule to measure trait and state affect and the NEO PI-R to measure neuroticism and extraversion.
Participants perceived their HGs and related means in mood-congruent ways. High NA participants perceived their HGs to be less controllable, less attainable, more difficult, and less congruent with their self-identity. They also perceived their related means to be more difficult and less congruent with their self-identity. In contrast, high PA participants perceived their HGs and related means to be more attainable and more congruent with their self-identity, and they evaluated their related means as less difficult. In addition, our results suggest that state affect is better associated with perceptions of HGs than trait affect.
The adoption and attainment of HGs is likely to be facilitated by PA but impeded by NA. PA and NA may also impact the adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyles. These results help provide a better understanding of the reasons why people with depression or negative mood adhere to behaviors that compromise their health.
为什么患有抑郁症状或长期处于消极情绪中的人不太可能采取健康的生活方式？我们推测，消极情绪（NA）会阻碍健康目标（HG）和健康行为的采纳，而积极情绪（PA）则会促进其采纳。我们的目的是评估以状态和特质来衡量的NA和PA与对HG及其相关手段的认知之间的关联。在我们的研究中，我们测试了以状态和特质来衡量的对HG的认知与情绪之间的关系。
三项在线研究的参与者被要求选择并评估一个健康目标（研究1 - 3）或一个健康目标及相关手段（研究3）。在研究1中，我们使用个人项目分析来评估HG的10个维度、目标间干扰和目标间促进；在研究2和3中，我们使用专门设计的问卷来评估HG及其相关手段的难度、可实现性、可控性以及与自我认同的一致性。我们使用积极和消极情绪量表来测量特质和状态情绪，并使用大五人格量表（NEO PI - R）来测量神经质和外向性。
参与者以情绪一致的方式认知他们的HG及其相关手段。高NA的参与者认为他们的HG可控性更低、可实现性更低、更难，并且与他们的自我认同一致性更低。他们还认为他们的相关手段更难且与他们的自我认同一致性更低。相比之下，高PA的参与者认为他们的HG及其相关手段更可实现且与他们的自我认同一致性更高，并且他们评估他们的相关手段难度更低。此外，我们的结果表明，状态情绪比特质情绪与对HG的认知关联更强。
PA可能促进HG的采纳和实现，而NA则可能阻碍。PA和NA也可能影响健康生活方式的采纳和维持。这些结果有助于更好地理解为什么患有抑郁症或消极情绪的人坚持不利于健康的行为。
