Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event
BackgroundIt is believed that personality traits have an impact on the propensity to change and maintain favorable lifestyle habits. This issue has been raised by multiple studies, however, none of them appeared to focus on population under severe psychological stress. The aim of the present study w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1256883/full |
| _version_ | 1827796470460317696 |
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| author | Julita Tokarek Angelika Kapuścik Joanna Kućmierz Edward Kowalczyk Michał Seweryn Karbownik |
| author_facet | Julita Tokarek Angelika Kapuścik Joanna Kućmierz Edward Kowalczyk Michał Seweryn Karbownik |
| author_sort | Julita Tokarek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundIt is believed that personality traits have an impact on the propensity to change and maintain favorable lifestyle habits. This issue has been raised by multiple studies, however, none of them appeared to focus on population under severe psychological stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link between personality traits and health-related behaviors and measures such as dietary intake of specific food products, physical activity, body-mass index and the use of cigarettes in medical students facing a stressful event.MethodsThe study included a cohort of third-year medical students from the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, facing a stressful subject exam during the first COVID-19-related lockdown. At baseline, personality traits were evaluated with the use of the Polish version of the Big Five Inventory-Short questionnaire. Then, consumption of selected food products was monitored with the use of seven-day electronic dietary record. Also, some other health-related data was collected (body-mass index, physical activity and the use of cigarettes). General Linear Modeling techniques, logistic regression and exploratory factor analysis were applied to analyze the data.ResultsFour hundred and forty-four students completed the study. A two-factor pattern of food consumption was discovered by the exploratory factor analysis in the study group (34% of the variance explained). Higher conscientiousness, but not the other personality traits, was found to be significantly associated with generally healthier lifestyle manifested by higher consumption of vegetables, wholegrain products, fruits and nuts (adjusted beta 0.16, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.26, pη2 = 2.3%, p = 0.0015) and lower cigarette smoking (adjusted odds ratio 0.84, 95%CI 0.75 to 0.94, p = 0.0020), but insignificantly with physical activity and body-mass index.ConclusionSeverely stressed medical students expressing high conscientiousness tend to present healthier behaviors. Therefore, interventions aimed at improving lifestyle habits in students with low conscientiousness might be useful. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:06:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c8cee287a2b94e708bbf538fb1c2937e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:06:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-c8cee287a2b94e708bbf538fb1c2937e2023-10-10T07:11:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-10-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.12568831256883Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful eventJulita Tokarek0Angelika Kapuścik1Joanna Kućmierz2Edward Kowalczyk3Michał Seweryn Karbownik4Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Students Research Club, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandStudents Research Club “Metoda”, Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Students Research Club, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, PolandBackgroundIt is believed that personality traits have an impact on the propensity to change and maintain favorable lifestyle habits. This issue has been raised by multiple studies, however, none of them appeared to focus on population under severe psychological stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link between personality traits and health-related behaviors and measures such as dietary intake of specific food products, physical activity, body-mass index and the use of cigarettes in medical students facing a stressful event.MethodsThe study included a cohort of third-year medical students from the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, facing a stressful subject exam during the first COVID-19-related lockdown. At baseline, personality traits were evaluated with the use of the Polish version of the Big Five Inventory-Short questionnaire. Then, consumption of selected food products was monitored with the use of seven-day electronic dietary record. Also, some other health-related data was collected (body-mass index, physical activity and the use of cigarettes). General Linear Modeling techniques, logistic regression and exploratory factor analysis were applied to analyze the data.ResultsFour hundred and forty-four students completed the study. A two-factor pattern of food consumption was discovered by the exploratory factor analysis in the study group (34% of the variance explained). Higher conscientiousness, but not the other personality traits, was found to be significantly associated with generally healthier lifestyle manifested by higher consumption of vegetables, wholegrain products, fruits and nuts (adjusted beta 0.16, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.26, pη2 = 2.3%, p = 0.0015) and lower cigarette smoking (adjusted odds ratio 0.84, 95%CI 0.75 to 0.94, p = 0.0020), but insignificantly with physical activity and body-mass index.ConclusionSeverely stressed medical students expressing high conscientiousness tend to present healthier behaviors. Therefore, interventions aimed at improving lifestyle habits in students with low conscientiousness might be useful.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1256883/fullpersonality traitsconscientiousnessdiethealthbehaviorspsychological stress |
| spellingShingle | Julita Tokarek Angelika Kapuścik Joanna Kućmierz Edward Kowalczyk Michał Seweryn Karbownik Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event Frontiers in Public Health personality traits conscientiousness diet health behaviors psychological stress |
| title | Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| title_full | Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| title_fullStr | Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| title_full_unstemmed | Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| title_short | Personality traits and health-related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| title_sort | personality traits and health related behaviors in medical students facing a stressful event |
| topic | personality traits conscientiousness diet health behaviors psychological stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1256883/full |
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