Erikson's Psychosocial Development and Stressors as Factors in Healthy Lifestyles.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine several variables thought to contribute to healthy life styles of adults. Psychosocial development and the presence of stressors (life changes) were selected for the potential contribution they make to the practice of health behaviors of adults. Psychosocial theory of development and theory of human adaptation provided the conceptual framework that guided the investigation. Nursing theory provided the synthesizing base for linking several of the concepts that were studied. Using a survey design, three self-report instruments were mailed to potential subjects. The study participants (N = 156) were employees (current or retired) of a large midwestern university ranging in age from twenty-four to eighty. The subjects were selected from a population that was eligible for a diagnostic screening and early detection program available as an employee benefit. The sample was 43% female and 8.4% had a minority background. Though a healthy population, 56% indicated the presence of one or more health problems at the time of the investigation. The results revealed that the means for each stage of psychosocial development ranged from 3.7 to 4.41 on a scale of 1 to 5. Positive resolution of intimacy, the stage of early adulthood, was more strongly predictive of the health behaviors in general and specifically for four of the six subscales of the health behaviors measure. Exposure to stressors as measured by life changes increased the predictive values of two of the subscales of the total health behaviors score (nutrition and safety). Stressors and their impact did not, in general, lend strength to the predictive value of healthy lifestyles. The presence of health problems has an effect on the subscale of substance use and a small effect on the total of health behaviors. The results of this study support the value of determining an individual's psychosocial developmental level when assessing and implementing health counseling with adults.