The lifestyle appraisal questionnaire: A comprehensive assessment of health and stress

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Abstract
Lifestyle risk factors and perceived stress have been shown to have a significant impact on an individual's health. Interventions designed to minimise the negative effects of such risks which also reliably measure long-term health outcomes are therefore desirable. However, there is a lack of reliable and sensitive measures of lifestyle risks and stress. This paper presents initial research on the development of the Lifestyle Appraisal Questionnaire (LAQ), an instrument designed to assess lifestyle from a multifactorial perspective, that is, cumulative risks and perceived stress of life. Two samples were selected to test the LAQ. The first group was a randomly selected community sample. The second was a university sample of randomly selected staff. From the first group (n=600), the reliability, validity and factor structure were determined. From the second group (n=143), the clinical usefulness of the scale was demonstrated. Both groups provided adult norms. Implications of such a measure are discussed.