The Role of Health Education and Hardiness in Perceived Wellness

Rozan Khalil Psychology and Social BehaviorUniversity of California, Irvine

A college student has many roles…

• Attending school is stressful by nature, because students must fulfill many roles (homework, family responsibilities, work, internships, etc.), which requires expenditure of body resources.

• Stress accumulation causes strain.

Health Education• Many college students

are making decisions that ultimately put their well-being at risk.

• Literature suggests that college students have poor eating habits and that many impediments exist to attaining optimal nutrition for this very busy population.

What is Nutrition?

• Nutrition is not simply having a healthful diet; it is the integration of multiple resources, such as: a balanced diet; social support; relaxation; and communication, into one’s life to maintain wellness.

Wellness• Wellness is an integrated

method of functioning that is oriented towards maximizing the potential of the individual.

Strain

• Without replenishment of spent resources through nutrition, stress accumulates into physical and psychological strain, which in turn causes a decline in performance effectiveness.

Role of Hardiness • Individuals with higher

hardiness are, as research shows, have better performance and better health, even though they may experience stressful changes.

• Hardy individuals consistently maintain their wellness by preventing stressors from accumulating into strain and performance ineffectiveness, and view stress as a normal part of life.

Purpose

• The purpose of this study is a threefold:

1) To test the effectiveness of an undergraduate health psychology course in increasing the students’ awareness of their healthful habits.

2) To measure their change of wellness.

3) To determine if there is a correlation between student’s hardiness level and wellness level.

Hypothesis • Students’ wellness will

increase as a result of the knowledge gained from the health psychology course.

• With the accumulation of knowledge, students initiate changes that reflect a healthier lifestyle.

• Students who have a high level of wellness will also have a higher level of hardiness.

The Setting and Participants

• 70 subjects were recruited for this study from the Health Psychology course (P103) offered during winter quarter of 2008 at UCI.

Methods • Wellness Measure: The

Body-Mind-Spirit Wellness Behavior and Characteristic Inventory (BMS-WBCI).

• This inventory has 44 items, and three subsections to measure body, mind, and spirit wellness separately and comprehensively.

Methods

• Hardiness measure: The Hardiness Survey.

• This inventory has 63 items, and three subsections to measure commitment, control, and challenge separately and comprehensively.

Descriptive Results

• In the pre sample (N=108), we found a significant positive correlation (0.541**) between students’ Hardiness score and wellness score, using a 2-tailed test.

• In the post sample (N=70), we also found a significant positive correlation (0.513**) between students’ Hardiness score and wellness score, using a 2-tailed test.

• **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Test of main hypothesis

• Students’ wellness scores increased at the end of the Health Psychology course.

• Students who had a high level of wellness also had a high level of hardiness.

Conclusion and Implications

• To better appreciate their mind, body and spirit all students must be exposed to health education.

• Teaching health education has positive implications on students’ awareness, health and longevity.

Thank You!

• Dr. Valerie Jenness• Dr. Salvatore Maddi • Dr. Deborah Khoshaba • The Hardiness Research Lab• Mostafa Fazel • Nephthys Resurrection• Honors Class