Identifying Health Motivations among Emerging Adult in China through Self-Determination Theory

自我決定理論視野下中國年輕人健康動機的研究

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.

Objectives: College students in China experience unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking, sleep disorders, and sedentary lifestyles, which are common risk factors of chronic diseases. Lifestyle has a profound impact on one’s health. The researchers tried to explore and delineate college students’ motivations for a healthy lifestyle. Methods: 93 undergraduate students (59 males and 34 females; mean age 21.2 years) were interviewed. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using a theory-directed approach following Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Results: Participants reported five types of health motivation that broadly fall under SDT: absence of motive, external, introjected, identified, and integrated. Sources for motivation identified included health literacy, the environment, and social relationships. Conclusions: Health practitioners in colleges in China should be sensitive to different types of motivation and factors that influence college students’ goals of practicing healthy lifestyles. Effective intervention programs for improving the motivation of college students should address issues related to perceived locus of causality.

目標：中國大學生存在如吸煙，酗酒，睡眠不規律，久坐等不健康的行為方式，這些行為方式是慢性疾病的常見風險因素。 生活方式對一個人的健康產生深遠的影響。在本研究中，研究者試圖探索和描述中國大學生選擇健康生活方式的動機。方法：共訪談了93名本科大學生(其中男性59名，女性34名，平均年齡21.2歲)，並以自我決定理論為依據，對訪談記錄文本進行分析。 結果：參與者大致報告了自我決定理論所描述的五類動機：即缺失的、外部的、攝入的、認同的和整合的等。健康動機的來源大致包括健康素養、環境因素和社會關係。結論：大學的健康實踐者應對影響大學生健康行為的五類不同的動機水準保持敏感，有效的以提高健康動機為目的的教育項目應著重解決因果關係感覺軌跡中的有關問題。