Factors Associated With Health‐Promoting Behaviors Among South Korean Adults: A Cross‐Sectional Study.

Kim, Yoonjung; Chae, Heemin; Kwak, Yeun Hee; Kim, Ji‐su

Objective: To examine the association between positive psychological capital, social support, illness attitudes toward COVID‐19, and health‐promoting behaviors in Korean adults. Design: An online cross‐sectional study. Sample: The participants were 820 South Korean adults aged 19–64, recruited through quota sampling. The sample was census‐matched in terms of age and gender based on the Korean Population Census. Measurements: The participants completed measures assessing psychological capital, social support, illness attitude toward COVID‐19, and health‐promoting behaviors. The t‐test, one‐way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation, and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: Participants who were religious, perceived themselves as physically healthy, had negative illness attitudes, had high positive psychological capital, and received high social support were more likely to engage in health‐promoting behaviors. These variables explained 44.5% of the participants' health‐promoting behaviors. Conclusions: This study is the first to examine illness attitudes toward COVID‐19 and health‐promoting behaviors among South Korean adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The results can pave the way for effective public health intervention strategies that consider religiosity, physical health status, illness attitude, and social support, to promote healthy living during future public health crises.

SOUTH Korea; CROSS-sectional method; SCALE analysis (Psychology); PEARSON correlation (Statistics); PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience; ATTITUDES toward illness; CRONBACH'S alpha; T-test (Statistics); DATA analysis; HEALTH status indicators; SELF-efficacy; OPTIMISM; POSITIVE psychology; STATISTICAL sampling; QUESTIONNAIRES; MULTIPLE regression analysis; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ECONOMIC status; HEALTH behavior; ONE-way analysis of variance; ANALYSIS of variance; STATISTICS; MARITAL status; RELIGION; SOCIAL support; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors; DATA analysis software; INTERPERSONAL relations; COVID-19; REGRESSION analysis; EMPLOYMENT; EDUCATIONAL attainment; HOPE

Public Health Nursing, 2025, Vol 42, Issue 1, p265

0737-1209

Academic Journal

10.1111/phn.13474