SENSE OF COHERENCE, PERCEIVED HEALTH, AND THE PERFORMANCE OF HEALTH-PROMOTING BEHAVIORS.
Contributors: Boston College.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 175
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, General.
Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate Antonovsky's salutogenic theory of health, operationalized as a "sense of coherence" as a predictor of perceived health status and the performance of behaviors which adults identify as promoting health. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant positive relationship between a sense of coherence and its subcomponents of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaning, and the variables of health-promoting lifestyle and perceived health status. A theoretical model was proposed which predicted that strong SOC would have a positive direct effect on perceived health status and the performance of health-promoting behaviors, and that the performance of health-promoting behaviors would have a direct positive effect on perceived health status.

The nonrandomized sample consisted of 228 adult men and women employed at six rural industrial sites. The variable of sense of coherence was operationalized using Antonovsky's Orientation to Life Questionnaire. The variable of health-promoting lifestyle was operationalized using Pender, Walker, and Sechrist's Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile. The variable of perceived health status was measured using a questionnaire designed for this study, the Perceived Health Questionnaire.

All three of the hypotheses were strongly supported. Significant interaction among the major variables prevented the use of path analysis to further delineate the theoretical model. Of the demographic variables studied, only religious denomination varied significantly by score on the three major variables. Work was seen by many in this sample as a health-promoting behavior. Discriminant analysis was unsuccessful in delineating a demographic profile predictive of level of sense of coherence.

Although the results of this study suggest that a strong SOC is present in individuals who engage in a health-promoting lifestyle and perceive themselves as healthy, it is necessary to further investigate the relationship among these variables before nursing focuses on designing interventions which serve to strengthen the SOC.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: B, page: 5643.

Thesis (PH.D.)--BOSTON COLLEGE, 1992.

School code: 0016.