In this study it is argued that quality of health is predominantly
influenced by health behaviour and health-risk behaviour. Self-regulation as
an important factor in health and health-risk behaviour was operationalised by
three phases, namely goal establishment, goal execution and self-reflection
and adjustment. In addition, mindfulness is an important metacognitive skill
applied throughout the process of self-regulation. The lack of research on self-regulation
and health behaviour, especially with reference to South African
youth and young adolescents is surprising. Health programmes seem to pay
insufficient attention to the enhancement of self-regulatory skills in preventing
health risk behaviour. Another limitation is the lack of qualitative data
regarding self-regulation research.
'This study aims to explore the self-regulation of health-related goals in
a group of young adults. Insight to this process could contribute to the
development of more appropriate health promoting programmes. A
qualitative research design with content analysis as data analysis technique
was applied. An availability sample of 92 participants, aged between 18 and
30, completed self-compiled questionnaires on health-risk behaviour and self-regulation.
Results indicate a high prevalence of health risk behaviour, supporting
other South African findings. Various differences were found between
participants engaging in high risk behaviour and those with low risk behaviour
with reference to the phases and processes of self-regulation. The high risk
group's goal setting seems to be problematic as it does not address identified
high risk behaviours. This may be as a result of insufficient mindfulness in
that they are ignorant of their health risk behaviour and its implication or
alternatively, that they attempt to avoid the risk of failure. In addition, the high
risk group is more dependent on external motivation regarding health-related
goals and is, therefore, more influenced by controlled regulation. In contrast,
the low risk group more often relies on individual personal resources as a
source of motivation for their health related goals. Furthermore, the high risk
group experiences regulatory non-fit as 'their actions were more often
inappropriate. No major differences were found between the groups
concerning stumbling blocks and self-observation. Participants in the high
risk group evaluate their performance less favourably and are more likely to
experience negative emotions in the face of failure compared to participants in
the low risk group.
When taking the whole self-regulation process into account, it can thus
be concluded that participants of the high risk group have poor self-regulation
in relation to participants in the low risk group. In general, the findings of this
study support the findings of other researchers, confirming the importance of
self-regulation in health and health-risk behaviour. The main implication is
that there should be a much stronger emphasis on self-regulatory skills in
health promotion and illness prevention programmes.
Certain limitations of this study were also taken into account. Future
studies should consider the role of individuals' risk perceptions with regard to
the goal establishment phases as well as the manner in which individuals deal
with stumbling blocks in the action phase. Finally, the way in which self-regulation
as a dynamic process should be accurately assessed is still not
clear. As this study is one of the first to explore self-regulation from a
qualitative perspective, future studies could shed more light on the usefulness
of other qualitative and even mixed method designs. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/1438 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Terblanche, Margaretha Elizabeth |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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