The Social Representations of Aggravating Factors Living Conditions and Their Connection to Their Psychological Profile

Abstract

Objective

To investigated the Greek social representations towards harmful factors of health.

Design

Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Method

Two hundred and eighty healthy individuals participated to the present study from different region in Greece. The age range was 19–65 years old. The questionnaire included:

– question for the recording of social representations based on free association methods;

– The Greek version of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECRI);

– The Symptom Checklist 90-revised (SCL-90);

– question for the social-demographic parameters.

Results

One factor and multifactor analysis was used for statistical analysis. Results showed significant differences in social representation of diet in terms of age and marital status. Place of region and chronic disease were found to affect the development social representations, such as exercise and disease, respectively. Exercise, night out and health were found like positive social representations, smoking and disease were characterized as negatives, whereas diet, alcohol and lifestyle were found controversial enough. Moreover, the results highlight the significant relationship between social representations towards harmful factors of health, psychopathology and attachment style (P < .05).

Conclusion

The results of the current study highlighted the importance of studying on social representations and provided more support to the representations theory context. But more crucially, our study highlighted functional domains of them related to psychopathology.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.