Health related behaviours, autistic and ADHD traits, and well-being in students

Almobayed, Shikhah 2024. Health related behaviours, autistic and ADHD traits, and well-being in students. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Background: The recent increase in chronic diseases and mental health problems has piqued the interest of researchers in understanding healthy behaviour. Health- related behaviours (HRBs) are essential for determining physical and mental health outcomes. Therefore, positive health behaviours can result in enhanced health outcomes and well-being. Conversely, negative health behaviours can lead to various harmful health influences and the adoption of risky behaviours. Adolescents frequently engage in behaviours that impair their health and well-being, including the high consumption of sugary food and lack of physical activity. Moreover, adolescents and young adults with ADHD/autism traits have lower well-being. Aims and Methodology: This thesis investigates the associations between HRBs and ADHD/autism traits, well-being, and behavioural outcomes. Moreover, it aims to replicate the results found in WPQ studies using multivariate analyses in different populations. Results: According to univariate analysis, there is a significant correlation between health-related behaviours and well-being and SDQ outcomes. Similar findings were found between ADHD/autism traits and well-being and SDQ outcomes. When including HRBs and ADHD/autism traits in multivariate analyses, most significant correlations disappeared after controlling for well-being predictors. However, some HRBs remained significant, such as tea consumption increased flourishing among secondary students, and physical health in university students. In addition, high fruit and vegetable consumption increased prosocial behaviours among secondary and university students. It is observed that ADHD/autism traits correlated with SDQ outcomes but not well-being outcomes. Conclusion: The results showed that while HRBs are linked to well-being outcomes in univariate analyses, they often have less predictive power when other well-being predictors are taken into account. This research emphasises the importance of considering multiple factors when examining the relationship between lifestyle behaviours and well-being. Moreover, the fact that some HRBs remained significant indicates that promoting healthy behaviours improves health and well-being.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 May 2025
Last Modified:	27 May 2025 09:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/178511

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