Casual relations model of antecedents and consequences of health behaviors in university students

This study examined the mediating effect of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors on the relationship between internal/external religious orientations and perceived social support with emotional well-being and life satisfaction among university students.
On a sample consisting of 410 students (157 male 253 female), the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale(I/EROS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)were administrated. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the mediating effects model of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors on the relationship between internal/external religious orientations and perceived social support with emotional well-being and life satisfaction among university students.
Results showed that there is a positive significant correlation between internal religious orientation and social support with healthy lifestyle behaviors and a positive non-significant correlation between external religious orientations with health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. Results also indicated that there is a positive significant correlation between health-promoting lifestyle behaviors with positive affect and life satisfaction and a negative significant correlation between health-promoting lifestyle behaviors with negative affect. Results of structural equation modeling also showed that the relationship between internal religious orientation and social support with positive and negative affect and life satisfaction is mediated fully by health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. In this hypothesized model, internal/external religious orientations and perceived social support factors accounted for 29% of the variance in health-promoting lifestyle behaviors. Also, health-promoting lifestyle behaviors accounted for 64%, 16% and 38% of the variance in positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction variables, respectively.
In sum, these finding show that the part of available variance in emotional well-being and life satisfaction in the context of prediction these cognitive and emotional components by internal/external religious orientations and perceived social support, accounted for person's health-promoting lifestyle behaviors.