The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate the relationship of-hardiness, a personality characteristic composed of the elements control, challenge, and commitment, to health behavior practices among a midwestern university faculty and staff. The hypothesis of the study was there is a negative correlation between scores on the Health Related Hardiness Scale (HRHS) and the HealthPromoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) among university faculty and staff. Prior to conducting the study, approval of the university internal review board was obtained. Using a random numbers table and the university faculty and staff phone directory, a random sample of 100 participants was obtained. The participants were sent the Health Related Hardiness Scale (HRHS) to measure hardiness, the HealthPromoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) to measure health behaviors, a demographic questionnaire, and an addressed return envelope. Confidentiality of the participants was assured. Returned questionnaires implied consent to participate. The completed forms were returned to the researcher by campus mail in the envelope provided. Seventy-three questionnaires were returned; 50 could be used for analysis. The Pearson's r was used to analyze the data and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed r = - 0.5473 with.R<0.001. The hypothesis of the study was supported. Post hoc analysis using the Pearson's r revealed negative correlations with varying degrees of significance between the three subscales of the HRHS and the six subscales of the HPLP. The information obtained from the study is valuable to nursing in planning educational and supportive strategies for a variety of clients in various settings. / School of Nursing

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Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Stress has become endemic amongst teachers globally. Although there are common factors that account for the increased levels of stress among teachers, the particular factors involved differ from country to country. South Africa has gone through more than a decade of political and social change. Coping with the extended transitions within the educational system has affected teachers’ wellness. Emotional intelligence or emotionalsocial competencies, the term used in the study, offers a way of viewing the means of primary prevention as a whole, rather as loosely related elements. This offers a practical way of describing the key range of competencies that make it possible to modulate emotions, to solve social problems creatively, to be effective leaders or collaborators, to be assertive and responsible, or to be able to ask evocative and/or social questions that lead to new learning. This study focuses on the need for teachers to develop specific social and coping skills, as well the need for them to have the necessary environmental support, to prevent stress and promote wellness in teachers. This interpretive study used questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and "a day in the life of" interviews to explore the perceptions of Life Orientation teachers about the emotionalsocial competencies that improve and support their wellness. The South African teachers surveyed consider that certain emotionalsocial competencies enhance their wellness. In their view, all teachers would benefit from having a toolkit emotionalsocial competencies. They also expressed the need for pre-service teacher education to offer training in these competencies.