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The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support

As university students face increasing pressures in a highly competitive society, unhealthy lifestyles have become a common phenomenon. Health awareness is considered a critical factor in promoting healthy behaviors, yet its mechanism of action on university students’ healthy lifestyles, influenced...

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Main Authors: Zhang, Zeqing, Abdullah, Haslinda, Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati, Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D., Ismail, Ismi Arif, Huang, Zerui
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/1/114559.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311886
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spelling my.upm.eprints.1145592025-01-20T00:41:14Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/ The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support Zhang, Zeqing Abdullah, Haslinda Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D. Ismail, Ismi Arif Huang, Zerui As university students face increasing pressures in a highly competitive society, unhealthy lifestyles have become a common phenomenon. Health awareness is considered a critical factor in promoting healthy behaviors, yet its mechanism of action on university students’ healthy lifestyles, influenced by self-esteem and social support, remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between health awareness (HA) and healthy lifestyles (HL) and to examine the mediating roles of self-esteem (SE) and social support (SS) in this relationship. Based on social cognitive theory, this study initially constructs a theoretical model of the impact of health awareness on healthy lifestyles among university students, introducing self-esteem and social support as mediating variables to further build a chain mediation model. A total of 1,169 participants (554 males and 615 females) completed an online survey. Participants completed the Health Awareness Scale (HAS), the Diet and Healthy Lifestyle Scale (DEVS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3). The results show that high levels of health awareness positively influence self-esteem, which in turn positively influences social support, ultimately having a positive impact on healthy lifestyles. Specifically, self-esteem and social support play significant mediating roles in the relationship between health awareness and healthy lifestyles. The findings reveal the pathway by which health awareness influences healthy lifestyles through self-esteem and social support, enriching the theoretical explanation of health behaviors within the framework of social cognitive theory, particularly in the context of university students. Furthermore, the results provide practical guidance, suggesting that in designing interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, emphasis should be placed on enhancing university students’ health awareness, self-esteem, and social support systems. This could include mental health education, establishing supportive communities, and fostering activities that promote self-esteem. Public Library of Science 2024-10-10 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/1/114559.pdf Zhang, Zeqing and Abdullah, Haslinda and Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati and Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D. and Ismail, Ismi Arif and Huang, Zerui (2024) The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support. Plos One, 19. art. no. e0311886. ISSN 1932-6203; eISSN: 1932-6203 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311886 10.1371/journal.pone.0311886
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description As university students face increasing pressures in a highly competitive society, unhealthy lifestyles have become a common phenomenon. Health awareness is considered a critical factor in promoting healthy behaviors, yet its mechanism of action on university students’ healthy lifestyles, influenced by self-esteem and social support, remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between health awareness (HA) and healthy lifestyles (HL) and to examine the mediating roles of self-esteem (SE) and social support (SS) in this relationship. Based on social cognitive theory, this study initially constructs a theoretical model of the impact of health awareness on healthy lifestyles among university students, introducing self-esteem and social support as mediating variables to further build a chain mediation model. A total of 1,169 participants (554 males and 615 females) completed an online survey. Participants completed the Health Awareness Scale (HAS), the Diet and Healthy Lifestyle Scale (DEVS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3). The results show that high levels of health awareness positively influence self-esteem, which in turn positively influences social support, ultimately having a positive impact on healthy lifestyles. Specifically, self-esteem and social support play significant mediating roles in the relationship between health awareness and healthy lifestyles. The findings reveal the pathway by which health awareness influences healthy lifestyles through self-esteem and social support, enriching the theoretical explanation of health behaviors within the framework of social cognitive theory, particularly in the context of university students. Furthermore, the results provide practical guidance, suggesting that in designing interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, emphasis should be placed on enhancing university students’ health awareness, self-esteem, and social support systems. This could include mental health education, establishing supportive communities, and fostering activities that promote self-esteem.
format Article
author Zhang, Zeqing
Abdullah, Haslinda
Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati
Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D.
Ismail, Ismi Arif
Huang, Zerui
spellingShingle Zhang, Zeqing
Abdullah, Haslinda
Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati
Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D.
Ismail, Ismi Arif
Huang, Zerui
The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
author_facet Zhang, Zeqing
Abdullah, Haslinda
Ahmad Ghazali, Akmar Hayati
Silva, Jeffrey Lawrence D.
Ismail, Ismi Arif
Huang, Zerui
author_sort Zhang, Zeqing
title The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
title_short The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
title_full The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
title_fullStr The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
title_full_unstemmed The influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: The chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
title_sort influence of health awareness on university students’ healthy lifestyles: the chain mediating role of self-esteem and social support
publisher Public Library of Science
publishDate 2024
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/1/114559.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114559/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311886
_version_ 1823093202191646720
score 13.23648

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