Basic Conditioning Factors' Influences on Adolescents' Healthy Behaviors, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Care

This article reports a secondary statistical analysis of data from a study investigating the relationships among health-promoting self-care behaviors, self-care self-efficacy, and self-care agency in an adolescent population (Callaghan, 2005). The purpose of this study was to identify the influences of selected basic conditioning factors on the practice of healthy behaviors, self-efficacy beliefs, and ability for self-care in 256 adolescents. The research instruments used to collect data for this study include: Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II Scale; Self-Rated Abilities for Health Practices Scale; Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale; demographic questionnaire assessing basic conditioning factors. The results of this analysis identified significant relationships between the following basic conditioning factors and adolescents' practice of healthy behaviors, self-efficacy of those behaviors, and self-care abilities: support system, adequate income, adequate living conditions, gender, routine practice of religion, and reported medical problems/disabilities. These findings can give adolescent health nurses direction in developing interventions that promote the self-care and health in this specific population.