Citation

Castillo-Díaz MA, Martínez MC, Periañez CAH, Sauceda-Acosta D. Health Promot. Int. 2024; 39(4).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/heapro/daae082

PMID

39023210

PMCID

PMC11255985

Abstract

This study sought to analyze an explanatory model on the relationship among sociodemographic factors, health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress) in college students. This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study conducted on a national sample of 4203 students who entered a macro university in Honduras in 2021, 2022 and 2023. We used a sociodemographic survey, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Univariate analysis and a multivariate structural equation model were conducted. The average HPLP-II score was 117.45 (± 23.41), and the average DASS-21 score was 20.06 (± 14.16). The multivariate model showed a good data fit (comparative fit index = 0.951; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.957; root mean square error of approximation = 0.067 [90% CI = 0.067-0.068]).

RESULTS indicate that being a woman (β = 0.11; p < 0.001) and being enrolled in biological and health sciences (β = 0.09; p < 0.001) significantly predict HPLP-II scores. Furthermore, being a woman (β = 0.17; p < 0.001), age (β = 0.10; p < 0.001) and having pre-existing medical conditions (β = 0.16; p < 0.001) significantly explain part of the variance of DASS-21. A significant reverse relationship between health-promoting behavior and psychological distress was shown (r = -0.36; p < 0.001). This study identifies protective and risky sociodemographic factors linked to health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress. Our findings have implications for developing comprehensive intervention policies and strategies to promote health in higher education settings.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Adult; Female; Male; Universities; Health Promotion; Adolescent; mental health; Young Adult; university students; Surveys and Questionnaires; social determinants of health; Sociodemographic Factors; Latent Class Analysis; Psychological Distress; *Healthy Lifestyle; *Students/psychology/statistics & numerical data; Anxiety/epidemiology/psychology; Depression/epidemiology/psychology; health behavior; Honduras; Life Style; observational study; Stress, Psychological/psychology/epidemiology; structural equation modeling