Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Kevin Larkin
Committee Co-Chair
Christina Duncan
Committee Member
Melissa Blank
Abstract
Research has shown that positive psychological traits, such as perseverance, may be associated with the maintenance of health behaviors aimed to prevent commonly fatal diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, stroke). Although there is limited research in this area, the current study examined whether there was an association between self-reported perseverance, behavioral perseverance, and distress tolerance with various health behaviors (e.g., sleep, physical activity, nutrition, vaping, alcohol use, general health status, and COVID-19 behaviors). A novel methodology was implemented for this study that employed using the online mirror tracing task as a measure of behavioral perseverance.
A sample of young adult participants (N=763) enrolled in undergraduate courses at West Virginia University completed the perseverance of effort subscale from the Grit Scale, the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Pandemic Stress Index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and various items from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) using an online survey system. A subset of this sample (N = 48) volunteered to participate in the second portion of this study in which they completed the online mirror tracing task and pre- and post- measures of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Multiple, ordinal, and logistic analyses were independently conducted with self-reported perseverance, behavioral perseverance, and distress tolerance as the predictor variables and health behaviors, positive and negative affect reactivity, and COVID-19 impact as the criterion variables. Mediational analyses were conducted to examine the effect of perceived importance and difficulty of maintaining health behaviors as potential mediators for any significant associations between measures of perseverance and measures of engagement in various health behaviors.
Multiple regression analysis showed that distress tolerance significantly predicted global PSQI scores, such that participants with higher distress tolerance scores reported engaging in better sleep. In addition, distress tolerance predicted general health status and COVID-19 impact in ordinal regression analyses. The variables of self-reported perseverance and behavioral perseverance did not significantly predict any health behaviors. Each health behavior that was significantly predicted by distress tolerance (e.g., sleep quality and general health status) were examined in mediational models. One mediation model revealed significant indirect effects in that perception of difficulty in maintaining healthy sleep behaviors partially explained the association between distress tolerance and sleep quality. No other indirect effects were observed. This study highlighted the potential importance of distress tolerance as a relevant factor in explaining whether young adults engage in some important health behaviors and suggest that future research is warranted in using this measure to explore questions of interest to health psychologists.
Recommended Citation
Frazier, Alivia Kay, "Self-Reported and Behavioral Perseverance Associated with the Maintenance of Health Behaviors" (2022). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11204.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11204