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PubMed1990

Habits with potential as disorders. Prevalence, severity, and other characteristics among college students.

Little is known about the prevalence of the various habit disorders-such as pulling out one's hair, biting fingernails, or grinding teeth--and even less is known about the prevalence of lesser habits which, if exacerbated, may be costly enough to an individual to be labeled a disorder. Such superficially "purposeless" behaviors provided the focus of the present investigation. An initial group of 142 college students completed a pilot questionnaire to identify habits to be included in a survey. The final questionnaire was then administered to 286 college students. It asked about "purposeless habits," defined as those "repeated actions that appear to serve no useful purpose but that we continue to engage in anyway." Behaviors included habits involving the mouth, face, neck, fingers, hands, legs, hair, body, clothing, and objects. In addition to assessing the nature and severity of problems caused by each habit, the stimulus conditions influencing its probability, related behaviors, and attempts to stop the habit were assessed. The kinds of behaviors that could become habit disorders were found to be quite common. Clinical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Beyond frequency: habit as mental construct.

Progress in habit theory can be made by distinguishing habit from frequency of occurrence, and using independent measures for these constructs. This proposition was investigated in three studies using a longitudinal, cross-sectional and experimental design on eating, mental habits and word processing, respectively. In Study 1, snacking habit and past snacking frequency independently predicted later snacking behaviour, while controlling for the theory of planned behaviour variables. Habit fully mediated the effect of past on later behaviour. In Study 2, habitual negative self-thinking and past frequency of negative self-thoughts independently predicted self-esteem and the presence of depressive and anxiety symptoms. In Study 3, habit varied as a function of experimentally manipulated task complexity, while behavioural frequency was held constant. Taken together, while repetition is necessary for habits to develop, these studies demonstrate that habit should not be equated with frequency of occurrence, but rather should be considered as a mental construct involving features of automaticity, such as lack of awareness, difficulty to control and mental efficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Applying behavior analysis to clinical problems: review and analysis of habit reversal.

This article provides a review and analysis of habit reversal, a multicomponent procedure developed by Azrin and Nunn (1973, 1974) for the treatment of nervous habits, tics, and stuttering. The article starts with a discussion of the behaviors treated with habit reversal, behavioral covariation among habits, and functional analysis and assessment of habits. Research on habit reversal and simplified versions of the procedure is then described. Next the article discusses the limitations of habit reversal and the evidence for its generality. The article concludes with an analysis of the behavioral processes involved in habit reversal and suggestions for future research.

Awareness↗
PubMed1994

Correlates of healthy eating habits in low-income black women and Latinas.

BACKGROUND: Few factors related to healthy or unhealthy eating habits in low-income, ethnic minority groups have been identified. In this study, factors associated with healthy and unhealthy eating habits and intent to change eating habits were examined in a sample of low-income Black and Latino women. METHODS: Survey questionnaires designed to identify correlates of healthy eating habits were administered to 243 Black and Latino women whose children were enrolled in Head Start programs in South Central Los Angeles. RESULTS: Having health insurance, lower perceived susceptibility to cancer, and higher levels of social support were significantly related to healthy eating habits. Exposure to domestic violence, lower income and knowledge of risk factors, and lower perceived efficacy in changing health outcome were associated with lower levels of intent to change eating habits. CONCLUSIONS: Economic factors such as insurance coverage and level of social support should be considered in evaluating and addressing eating habits in low-income, ethnic minority women. Exposure to domestic violence and self-efficacy may also be related to intent to change eating habits in these groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Habitable zones in the universe.

Habitability varies dramatically with location and time in the universe. This was recognized centuries ago, but it was only in the last few decades that astronomers began to systematize the study of habitability. The introduction of the concept of the habitable zone was key to progress in this area. The habitable zone concept was first applied to the space around a star, now called the Circumstellar Habitable Zone. Recently, other, vastly broader, habitable zones have been proposed. We review the historical development of the concept of habitable zones and the present state of the research. We also suggest ways to make progress on each of the habitable zones and to unify them into a single concept encompassing the entire universe.

Life↗
PubMed2007

Comparison of ventilatory threshold and exercise habits between Japanese men with and without metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the levels of ventilatory threshold (VT) and exercise habits in subjects with metabolic syndrome with those in age, sex-matched subjects without metabolic syndrome. METHODS: We used data of 155 Japanese men (47.1+/-9.2 years) with metabolic syndrome; the diagnosis was given by the definition and the diagnostic standard for metabolic syndrome in Japan. The influence of metabolic syndrome on oxygen uptake, work rate and heart rate at VT, and exercise habits were evaluated. RESULTS: Oxygen uptake and work rate at VT in subjects with metabolic syndrome were significantly lower than those in subjects without metabolic syndrome even after adjusting for body mass index (BMI). The number of subjects with exercise habits was significantly lower in metabolic syndrome. The subjects with exercise habits were significantly older than that in subjects without exercise habits. Furthermore, oxygen uptake and work rate at VT were significantly higher in subjects with exercise habits than those in subjects without exercise habits. CONCLUSION: Lower level of VT was characteristic in subjects with metabolic syndrome. Promotion of exercise habits is necessary for preventing and improving metabolic syndrome in Japanese men.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Food habits are related to glycemic control among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the food habits of people with type 2 diabetes and to identify those habits related to glycemic control. DESIGN: The purposive sampling plan targeted people (40 to 65 years old) living in two urban communities in the Southeastern United States with type 2 diabetes for >1 year (60% women, 50% African Americans and low-income individuals). In-depth interviews were used to identify food habits. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) was measured to assess glycemic control. SUBJECTS: The final sample contained 89 participants (62% women, 48% African American, and 43% below 200% of the poverty level). STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Analysis of variance, principal component/factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multiple regression were used to relate food habits to glycemic control. RESULTS: A four-factor solution derived from 15 food habits explained 51.5% of the total variance in HbA(1c) values. High factor scores for three factors (Basic Eating Practices, Meal Planning, and Carbohydrate/Vegetable Strategies) and low factor scores for a fourth factor (Challenges of Dining Out) were related to lower HbA(1c) values. Based on similar patterns across the 15 food habits, participants were clustered into four groupings. The clusters differing on HbA(1c) (mean+/-standard deviation) were Healthful Eating Lifestyle (6.25+/-0.25), Disciplined Eating Approach (7.31+/-0.35), Limited Dietary Focus (8.28+/-0.33), and Poor Dietary Management (9.05+/-0.24). These groupings reflected different food habit factor profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the specific food habits of people with diabetes can offer a way to structure a meaningful dialog with clients about dietary self-management and guide the collaborative development of relevant dietary goals.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

A study of dose-response relationship between tobacco habits and oral leukoplakia.

In a house-to-house survey in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India, 12,213 tobacco users were interviewed about the details of their tobacco usage and examined for the presence of leukoplakia. The frequency of tobacco habit was associated with the prevalence of leukoplakia indicating a positive dose-response relationship. The dose-response relationship remained significant, taking age, sex, and the type of tobacco habit into account. After adjusting for all these variables jointly the association still remained significant. The dose-response relationship was stronger for the smoking habit than for the chewing habit. A weaker relationship in the chewing habit was not due to the duration of chewing habit or the habit of retaining the betel quid in the mouth while sleeping. Thus the dose-response relationship, although significant, was different for tobacco smoking and chewing habits.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Clustering of risk habits in young adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

The authors studied the occurrence of common lifestyle risk factors, namely, nonprudent diet, smoking, physical inactivity, and frequent inebriation by alcohol in a cohort of young adults aged 18, 21, and 24 years (n = 484) as part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study in 1986. Risk habits showed significant clustering; the number of subjects was greater than expected in groups with zero and three of four risk habits and less than expected in the group with only one or two risk habits. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to find independent determinants for this clustering from a set of socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral (type A components) determinants. The logistic model suggested several independent risk factors for risk habit clustering. These included male sex, aggressiveness, and past unemployment. Paying a lot of attention to health habits, higher education (being a student), good self-perceived health, and a high sense of responsibility seemed to be protective factors against risk habit clustering. The accumulation of risk habits was also associated with an atherogenic lipid and blood pressure profile (clustering of high density lipoprotein cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio, triglycerides, and diastolic blood pressure in their extreme tertiles). These findings show that common risk habits cluster among young adults. Knowledge about the determinants of this clustering will aid in the planning of future preventive strategies against cardiovascular diseases in young people.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Epidemiologic study of the association between alcohol habits and oral leukoplakia.

In a house-to-house survey in Ernakulam district, Kerala State, 10914 individuals were interviewed for their tobacco and alcohol habits and examined for the presence of oral leukoplakia. Very few females (1.6%) were found to be alcohol users and they were excluded from further analysis. Among 7604 males, 30.4% used alcohol regularly, 25.4% occasionally and 44.2% were non-users. The prevalence of leukoplakia was significantly higher among regular (5.7%) and occasional (3.9%) users than among non-users (2.9%) of alcohol. Alcohol usage was found to be related to age as well as tobacco habits. The prevalence of leukoplakia was higher among alcohol users in each age-group as well as in each tobacco habit category. After age-adjustment the difference between alcohol users and non-users, although reduced, remained significant. For most tobacco habit categories the trend remained similar after age-adjustment except for the mixed habits group, for which there was a reversal of the trend. The alcohol habit may, perhaps, produce discernible effects only in association with other 'weak' etiological risk factors, such as a single tobacco habit of smoking or chewing rather than a 'strong' etiologic factor such as the mixed habits of chewing and smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Television-viewing habits and sleep disturbance in school children.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between specific television-viewing habits and both sleep habits and sleep disturbances in school children. METHODS: The parents of 495 children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade in three public elementary schools completed two retrospective survey questionnaires, one assessing their children's sleep behaviors and the other examining television-viewing habits of both the child and the family. Sleep domains assessed included bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, anxiety around sleep, parasomnias, night wakings, and daytime sleepiness. Teachers from all three schools also completed daytime sleepiness questionnaires (N = 402) for the sample. RESULTS: Most of the television-viewing practices examined in this study were associated with at least one type of sleep disturbance. Despite overall close monitoring of television-viewing habits, one quarter of the parents reported the presence of a television set in the child's bedroom. The television-viewing habits associated most significantly with sleep disturbance were increased daily television viewing amounts and increased television viewing at bedtime, especially in the context of having a television set in the child's bedroom. The sleep domains that appeared to be affected most consistently by television were bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and anxiety around sleep, followed by shortened sleep duration. The parent's threshold for defining "problem sleep behavior" in their child was also important in determining the significance of the association between sleep disturbance and television-viewing habits. CONCLUSION: Health care practitioners should be aware of the potential negative impact of television viewing at bedtime. Parents should be questioned about their children's television-viewing habits as part of general screening for sleep disturbances and as part of anticipatory guidance in regards to healthy sleep habits in children. In particular, the presence of a television set in the child's bedroom may be a relatively underrecognized, but important, contributor to sleep problems in school children.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2000

Personality and dietary habits.

BACKGROUND: The personality of healthy individuals has not been well studied in relation to health consciousness, dietary habits and actual food intake, simultaneously. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to study the association between personality and dietary habits. DESIGN: Information on dietary habits, including taste preferences and the frequency of food consumption, was collected through a questionnaire from 76 male and 394 female students. The personality of students was determined by a modified NEO-FFI test. Health status, height, body weight, body fat percentage and blood pressure were measured by physical examination. Main outcome measures were personality scores as indicators of a healthy dietary pattern. RESULTS: Food intake was influenced by neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), openness (O) and agreeableness (A) of personality. Taste preferences and receptivity to dietary advice were also influenced by personality: the odds ratios (ORs) between the high and low tertiary points of the NEO-FFI scores for salty and sweet taste preferences were significantly higher in the group that scored high for neuroticism (N) (salty taste preference: OR = 2.25, NS in males and OR = 2.39, 95%CI = 1.16-4.93 in females; sweet taste preference: OR = 21.00, 95%CI = 2.40-183.99 in males and OR = 3.33, 95%CI = 1.61-6.91 in females). On the other hand, the groups with high scorer for O and A did not like salty tastes. The groups with high scores for A and C were receptive to dietary advice. High scores of each N, E, O, A, and C factor were characterized by distinguishable, dietary habits and lifestyle. For nutritional or health education, group classes are sufficient for high A and O. High C scorer displayed discrepancies between health consciousness and dietary habits, so intervention or a close follow-up by medical professionals would be necessary to improve the health of individuals in this group. High E scorer possessed a confident attitude towards their health, but they were not interested in developing healthy habits. High N scorer was adverse to receiving health information and learning healthy dietary habits. CONCLUSION: Personality determined by NEO-FFI test was related to dietary habits and health attitude. Effective health education methods must take the personality of the targeted individuals into consideration.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Evaluating the efficacy of habit reversal: comparison with a placebo control.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of habit reversal with a placebo control as a treatment for chronic nail biting in adults. METHOD: Thirty adults with a chronic nail-biting problem (occurring > or = 5 times/day nearly every day for > or = 4 weeks and causing physical damage or social impairment) were randomly assigned to a placebo control or habit reversal group. Five participants withdrew from the study prior to the completion of treatment. The remaining individuals in both groups received a total of 2 hours of treatment over 3 sessions. Individuals in the habit reversal group (N = 13) received the components of awareness training, competing response training, and social support. Individuals in the placebo control group (N = 12) simply discussed their nail biting. At pretreatment, posttreatment, and a 5-month follow-up, nail length was measured, photographs were taken of the damaged nails and later rated by independent observers, and data on participant depression, anxiety, and self-esteem were obtained. Treatment compliance and acceptability data were collected at posttreatment only. RESULTS: Results showed that habit reversal produced a greater increase in nail length at posttreatment and follow-up when compared with the placebo. Data from the independent raters confirmed these findings. Habit reversal was also viewed as a more acceptable intervention by the participants. At posttreatment, the habit reversal group had increased their nail length by 22% from pretreatment compared with a 3% increase for the placebo group. At follow-up, the habit reversal group maintained a 19% increase in nail length from pretreatment compared with a 0% increase for the placebo group. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study suggest habit reversal is more effective than a placebo control and should be considered a well-established intervention for body-focused repetitive behaviors.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Investigation of chronic prostatitis and altered bowel habits].

OBJECTIVES: To explore the incidence, causes, and significance of altered bowel habits in chronic prostatitis. METHODS: Investigating the incidence of altered bowel habits in chronic prostatitis, analyzing some possible causes to induce the symptom, such as course of disease, vegetative nerve functional disturbance, inflammation in expressed prostatic secretions, and digital rectal examination. Following up the improvement of altered bowel habits after effective treatment of chronic prostatitis. RESULTS: The incidence of altered bowel habits was 31.40% in 379 chronic prostatitis patients. The detected congestion and swelling of prostate was closed related to altered bowel habits in chronic prostatitis. The incidence of improvement of altered bowel habits after effective treatment of chronic prostatitis reached to 78.79%. CONCLUSIONS: Congestion and swelling of prostate might be the main causes for altered bowel habits in chronic prostatitis. Altered bowel habits should be considered as a common symptom and cure standard for chronic prostatitis.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1992

[Smoking habits among adults--attitude and behavior in relation to prevention of cardiovascular diseases].

During the autumn 1989, a material of 1,330 men and 1,561 women aged 20-65 years and resident in the County of Vejle replied to a questionnaire about their smoking habits and knowledge in connection with the prophylaxis of cardiovascular disease. 47% of the men and 39% of the women stated that they smoked. During the past year, 44% of the male and 51% of the female smokers and ex-smokers had altered or considered altering their smoking habits. The main motives for altering smoking habits were health or financial reasons. The main reasons that an attempt to alter smoking habits did not succeed were side effects (restlessness/nervousness), the force of habit or that the desire was too great. The attitude that smoking was of significance for cardiovascular disease was related to non-smokers. In addition, a connection was observed between the knowledge that smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease that the fact that these participants did not smoke. No interactions were observed between knowledge, attitudes and smoking habits i.e. that the attitude that it was important to stop smoking was identical among smokers and non-smokers, regardless of whether smoking was deleterious to health. On the basis of previous attempts to alter smoking habits, the conclusion was drawn that this is a difficult task. One of the reasons is that the cause of smoking are partially unknown and that smoking is probably an important factor in various social situations. In addition, the motivation to alter smoking habits is more than dominated by the discomfort involved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Runners' health habits, 1985--"the Alameda 7" revisited.

Seven health habits were shown to be associated with longevity in a longitudinal study initiated in Alameda County, CA, in 1965. These habits (drinking moderately, exercising regularly, maintaining desirable weight for height, eating breakfast, not eating snacks, sleeping 7 or 8 hours per day, and never having smoked) were recently examined in a sample of the U.S. population. Subgroups with low income and little education were found to have low frequency of these health habits. In this report, findings on the frequency of these habits in 966 habitual runners in South Carolina are presented separately for men and women and according to age, education, income, and weekly mileage. Subgroups of the runners are surprisingly similar to subgroups of the national sample for several health habits. In addition, among the runners, low-income groups and those with little education have a lower frequency of good health habits relative to the other groups, although these differences are not statistically significant. Overall, about half of the runners practice five or more good health habits. These results indicate that even among healthy runners there is need for improvement in the adoption of health habits thought to be associated with reduced morbidity and mortality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Smoking habit questionnaire for outpatients].

UNLABELLED: During September 1992, outpatients of a general hospital received questionnaire on medical smoking cessation advice and smoking habit assessment by a physician. The staff of the Internal Medicine Service were asked about the frequency of outpatient smoking habit assessment. Of 185 patients interviewed, 37% were smokers, 38.5% were ex-smokers and 24.5% had never smoked; 46% of smokers reported that they had been told to quit smoking by a physician. Those who smoked more cigarettes per day were more likely to have been advised to stop. Of ex-smokers, 16% said that they had received medical aid for quitting. The frequency of smoking habit assessment was; in every physician-patient contact 20%, sometimes 36%, hardly ever 12% and 32% said that they were never questioned about smoking habits (Table 2). Those who reported to have been counseled to quit, were more likely to report smoking habit assessment (Table 3). Of physicians, 81% reported assessing routinely all ambulatory patients' smoking habit. Smoking prevalence among physicians was 43.3%, and 23.3% of them smoked in the office. These findings on the frequency of physicians' smoking advice are similar to those of Anda et al and Frank et al (Table 4). CONCLUSIONS: 1) physician's smoking cessation advice and smoking habits assessment reported by patients were low, 2) physicians report higher frequency of smoking habit assessment than patients, 3) physicians' smoking prevalence was higher than patients' prevalence. As a first approach to increase medical interventions against smoking, quitting programs directed to health personnel must be implemented.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Eating and life style habits in primary school student population from Mataro (Barcelona) associated with consumption of sugar and TV watching].

BACKGROUND: Most important trends of knowledge and behaviour are built on childhood and adolescence. Thus, to act on non healthy habits at early ages should have more impact in the development of later diseases. METHODS: 2,898 primary school students answered a written self administered questionnaire containing items about Dietary habits life-style habits, and familiar socioeconomic level. Cluster analysis was used to obtain the profile of student groups with higher probabilities to develop the risk habits studied. RESULTS: High consumption of television is associated with older ages, refreshments intake, and moderate consumption of sugar. On the other hand, high consumption of sugar is associated with older ages, usual intake of candies, type of school, low intake of raw vegetables, and low consumption of fruits. CONCLUSIONS: Other non healthy dietary and lifestyle habits show clustering in high consumers of television and/or sugar. The influence of socioeconomic level on getting risk habits is well stated; however, the role played by this variable in the results of our study remains uncertain, probably due to the utilization of indirect data. The resultants profiles suggest that the presence of some non healthy lifestyle habits, such as high television and sugar consumption, tends to cluster other risk habits in the same person.

Adolescent↗