JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A large body of research has identified modifiable cognitions and behaviours (actions) associated with psychological health. However, little is known about which of these actions are most strongly associated with psychological health, or the frequency with which they should be performed.

Objective:

The present paper describes two studies that used survey methodology to create the Things You Do Questionnaire (TYDQ), which aimed to identify and rank actions (items) and domains of actions (factors) most strongly associated with psychological health.

Methods:

In Study 1, 3,040 participants rated how often they performed each of 96-items comprising the TYDQ. In Study 2, a 59-item version of the TYDQ was completed by 3160 participants. In both studies, factor structure and validity were examined, as were the association between individual TYDQ items and three mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life.

Results:

In Study 1, factor analyses revealed that a five-factor model comprising 27-items achieved an optimum balance between brevity and variance and accounted for 38.1%, 31.4%, and 33.2% of variance on scores on measures of depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life, respectively. The factors were interpreted as realistic thinking, meaningful activities, goals and plans, healthy habits, and social connections. This pattern of results was replicated across gender, age groups, and depression severity. The five-factor solution found in Study 1 was replicated in Study 2. Analyses revealed that a 21-item version accounted for 46.8%, 38.2%, and 38.1% of variance on scores on measures of depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life, respectively.

Conclusions:

These findings indicate that some actions are more strongly associated with psychological health than others, and that these activities fall within five broad domains, which represent skills often in psychological treatments. Subsequent studies are planned to explore the reliability of these items and results in other samples and to examine patterns of change in scores during treatment for anxiety and depression.