Playing it safe: Dispositional mindfulness partially accounts for age differences in health and safety risk-taking propensity
Playing it safe: Dispositional mindfulness partially accounts for age differences in health and safety risk-taking propensity
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DOI：
10.1007/s12144-019-0137-3
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发表时间：
2019-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Natalie J. Shook;R. Delaney;JoNell Strough;Jenna M. Wilson;Barış Sevi;N. Altman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Natalie J. Shook;R. Delaney;JoNell Strough;Jenna M. Wilson;Barış Sevi;N. Altman
老年人报告的健康和安全风险（例如，使用药物、不系安全带）的可能性始终低于年轻人。然而，解释这种年龄差异的机制尚不清楚。更大的意向正念与更低的健康风险行为有关，老年人倾向于在意向正念上比年轻人得分更高。因此，我们测试了老年人更强的性格正念是否有助于解释他们更少的健康和安全冒险倾向。两个居住在社区的年轻人（25-36岁）和老年人（60岁以上）完成了性格正念和健康与安全冒险倾向的自我报告测量。在研究1中，与年轻人相比，老年人报告了更大的倾向正念和更低的从事健康和安全风险行为的可能性。更强的性格正念与更低的健康和安全冒险倾向相关。重要的是，老年人更强的性格正念部分解释了他们更少的健康和安全冒险倾向。这些发现在研究2中得到了重复，并排除了另一种机制（即感知健康）。研究结果表明，与年龄相关的健康和安全风险行为的减少，在统计学上可以部分解释为性格上的正念。本研究对行为干预的目的是增加预防性健康行为和减少健康风险行为具有启示意义。
Older adults consistently report a lower likelihood of engaging in health and safety risks (e.g., substance use, not wearing seatbelts) than younger adults. However, the mechanisms that explain this age difference are not clear. Greater dispositional mindfulness is associated with lower engagement in health risk behaviors, and older adults tend to score higher in dispositional mindfulness than younger adults. Thus, we tested whether older adults’ greater dispositional mindfulness helped to explain their lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. Two community-dwelling samples of younger (25–36 years) and older (60+ years) adults completed self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness and health and safety risk-taking propensity. In Study 1, older adults reported greater dispositional mindfulness and a lower likelihood to engage in health and safety risk behaviors than younger adults. Greater dispositional mindfulness was associated with lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. Importantly, older adults’ greater dispositional mindfulness partially accounted for their lesser health and safety risk-taking propensity. These findings were replicated in Study 2, and an alternative mechanism (i.e., perceived health) was ruled out. The results suggest that age-related decreases in health and safety risk behaviors may be statistically explained, in part, by dispositional mindfulness. The current research has implications for behavioral interventions intended to increase preventative health behaviors and decrease health risk behaviors.