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• DIFFERENCES IN PURPOSES AND LIFE-GOALS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HEALTH BEHAVIOR IN A ROMANIAN ADOLESCENT SAMPLE

  19-29

  Sándor Csibi

  Mónika Csibi

  Views:

  163

  The goal of this research was to investigate specific personality factors theorized to be involved in adolescents’ health behavior, such as individual differences in the level of purposes in life and the variations of life goals. The instrumentation for the study was a self-completed questionnaire, which included items for assessing health-behavior data, the Purposes in Life scale, and the Aspiration Index for life-goals’ assessment. There were 385 teenage study participants aged between 16-18 years (mean = 16.8 years; 182 boys – 47.3 % and 203 girls – 52,7%) in Transylvania, Romania. Results showed that adolescents who engaged in health-protective behaviors (e.g., physical activity, fruit /vegetable consumption) reported higher levels of purposes in life and intrinsic life-goals, such as affiliation or personal growth. Conversely, those engaged in health risky behaviors (e.g., substance use, sweet/soft drink consumption) not only reported lower levels in having a purpose in life but also tended to report fewer health goals for the future as well as personal growth. These findings argue that health professionals should incorporate and emphasize the development of teenagers’ life goals and purposes in the design and conceptualization of school-based prevention and health promotion programs that focus on fostering healthy lifestyle adoption.

• COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF YOUTH'S HEALTH-RISK LIFESTYLE IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THEIR CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

  7-20

  Sándor Csibi

  Mónika Csibi

  Views:

  246

  Health-related, primarily lifestyle-associated activities are increasingly emphasized in the lives of young people and their cultural communities. The aim of the research is to explore behavioral strategies that maintain health and to understand those societies and the environmental factors that predispose risk behaviors. The questionnaire includes items about demographics, lifestyle, family and school environment, and health risk factors. Participants are 280 youngsters from the 11-12^th graders of Târgu-Mureş and Eger. The study was conducted in February 2011 on a stratified sample using a self-completed questionnaire method. Our results showed significant differences between the two groups in terms of life satisfaction, frequency of alcohol consumption, but also in terms of family support, school acceptance, and teachers' attitudes toward students. We found gender differences in health-related self-esteem, subjective body image, body weight control, frequency, and amount of alcohol consumption, but also in school attitudes, time spent with friends.