Health related behaviours and stress

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Health related behaviours and stress

• Katherine Chaplin

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What is meant by Health-related behaviours?

• 4 key behavioural areas which have been
  identified
• Alcohol consumption
• Levels of consumption, under-age, pregnancy
• Smoking behaviour
• Non specific, pregnancy, around children
• Physical activity
• Levels of exercise, frequency of exercise
• Food choice
• Consider both health and unhealthy behaviours

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Health-related behaviours and work stress
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Breakfast and mental health
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Breakfast and mental health
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Study details

• Demographics
• Conducted with the Royal College of Nursing
• N 870
• 91 female
• Mean age 44 years ranging from 22 to 67
• Measures used
• Breakfast consumption measured on a 5 point scale
  from never to everyday
• Unhealthy snack consumption based on the amount
  of chocolate, crisps and cakes eaten per week
• Levels of work stress measured on a 5 point scale
  from not at all to extremely
• Mean depression scores based on the Hospital
  Anxiety and Depression Scale
• Number of minor injuries measured on a 5 point
  scale from not at all to very frequently

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Breakfast, snacking and work stress

• Daily breakfast consumption associated with lower
  levels of work stress
• Frequent unhealthy snacking associated with
  higher levels of work stress

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Breakfast, snacking and depression

• Daily breakfast consumption associated with lower
  depression
• Frequent unhealthy snacking associated with
  increased depression

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Breakfast, snacking and minor injuries

• Daily breakfast consumption associated with fewer
  minor injuries at work
• Frequent unhealthy snacking associated with more
  minor injuries at work

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Conclusions

• Determining causality
• For example, does breakfast decrease work stress
  or does work stress influence breakfast
  consumption
• How can we address this?
• dose response
• change over time
• interventions
• Have these measures been used previously?
• All of these measures have been used for stress
  and mental health outcomes in general
• Intervention studies are now required to examine
  occupational measures
• What should future studies look at?
• Are changes in health-related behaviours early
  indicators of the impact of stress or does stress
  reflect health-related behaviours? If the latter
  is true then changing these health-related
  behaviours could reduce stress