Department of Psychology, Texas State University, UAC 253, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA.
Institute for Health Disparities Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, One University Circle, MS 3.02.49, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 19;21(1):546. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10608-z.
Research suggests that health/safety behaviors (e.g., drinking heavily) and medical behaviors (e.g., donating blood) may be perceived as inherently risky, and further suggests there is substantial variation in the likelihood of engaging in a particular health-related risk behavior across people. Research examining demographic and sociocultural factors related to both health/safety and medical risk-taking is highly limited. Importantly, with very few exceptions the literature examining health risks characterized by potentially hazardous health behaviors (e.g, heavy alcohol use, driving without a seatbelt) is kept separate from the literature examining health risks characterized by potentially beneficial medical behaviors (e.g., donating blood, taking medication). In the interest of health promotion, it is critical for researchers to identify - and describe - individuals who are less inclined to engage in health-harming behaviors while at the same time being more inclined to engage in health-benefiting behaviors. Identifying such a subtype of individuals was the guiding aim for this study.
A national sample of adults in the United States responded to a survey on sociocultural and demographic correlates of health behaviors. Health-related risk-taking indicators were measured using the items from the health/safety and medical subscales of the DOSPERT-M. Subtypes of risk-takers were identified using latent profile analysis (LPA). Follow-up analyses to describe subtype demographic characteristics were conducted.
LPA identified four subtypes of risk-takers, including a subtype (n = 565, 45% of the sample; labeled "divergent") that was comprised of individuals who highly endorsed medical risk-taking (e.g., taking medicine, giving blood) and minimally endorsed health/safety risk-taking (e.g., drinking heavily, unprotected sex). Subsequent analyses suggested that, among other findings, divergent profile members were likely to be married, endorse familial interdependence, and orient toward masculinity rather than femininity.
By examining potentially modifiable factors related to individuals' inclinations to engage in health protective behaviors, this study is an important step toward improving current health behavior interventions among U.S. adults.
研究表明，健康/安全行为（例如，酗酒）和医疗行为（例如，献血）可能被视为固有风险，并且进一步表明，人们从事特定与健康相关的风险行为的可能性存在很大差异。研究检查与健康/安全和医疗冒险行为相关的人口统计学和社会文化因素的工作非常有限。重要的是，除了极少数例外，研究具有潜在危险健康行为（例如，大量饮酒，不系安全带驾驶）特征的健康风险的文献与研究具有潜在有益医疗行为（例如，献血，服药）特征的健康风险的文献是分开的。为了促进健康，研究人员必须确定并描述那些不太倾向于从事危害健康行为同时又更倾向于从事有益于健康的行为的个体。确定这样的亚类个体是本研究的指导目标。
美国的一个全国性成年人样本对健康行为的社会文化和人口统计学相关性进行了调查。使用 DOSPERT-M 的健康/安全和医疗子量表中的项目来衡量与健康相关的冒险行为指标。使用潜在剖面分析（LPA）确定风险承担者的亚型。进行了描述风险承担者亚类人口统计学特征的后续分析。
LPA 确定了四种风险承担者亚型，包括一种亚型（n=565，占样本的 45%；标记为“分歧”），由高度赞成医疗风险承担（例如，服药，献血）和最小程度赞成健康/安全风险承担（例如，酗酒，无保护性行为）的个体组成。随后的分析表明，除其他发现外，分歧型成员可能已婚，支持家庭相互依存，并且倾向于男性化而不是女性化。
通过检查与个人从事健康保护行为的倾向相关的潜在可改变因素，本研究是朝着改善美国成年人当前健康行为干预措施迈出的重要一步。
