Healthy Behavior as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Optimism and Life Satisfaction in Health Sciences Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sample Characteristics

Variables	n	%	Range	M	SD
Age	349	100	19–30	22.15	1.83
Gender	349	100
Female	202	57.88
Male	147	42.12
Height	349	100	150–205	172.73	9.94
Weight	349	100	38–133	67.49	13.56
BMI	349	100	16.14–35.44	22.44	2.86
Underweight (< 18.5)	19	5.44
Normal (18.5–25)	271	77.65
Overweight (25–30)	54	15.48
Obese (> 30)	5	1.43
Study major
Nursing	79	22.64
Obstetrics	52	14.90
Public Health	43	12.32
Medical Rescue Service	77	22.06
Physical Education	98	28.08

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for Continuously Measured Variables

Scales	Range	M	SD	Me	Skewness	Kurtosis
SWLS	5–35	21.54	5.44	22	−0.290	0.552
LOT-R	0–24	14.85	4.58	15	−0.202	−0.056
HBI	38–112	79.23	13.17	80	−0.413	0.588
HD	1.00–5.00	3.32	0.80	3.33	−0.188	−0.348
PB	1.50–5.00	3.26	0.74	3.33	−0.059	−0.519
PMA	1.17–5.00	3.43	0.70	3.50	−0.532	0.371
HP	1.00–4.67	3.20	0.70	3.33	−0.515	0.005

Note: N = 349.

Abbreviations: HBI, Health Behavior Inventory; HD, Healthy Diet; PB, Preventive Behavior; PMA, Positive Mental Attitudes; HP, Healthy Practices; SWLS, Satisfaction With Life Scale; LOT-R, Life Orientation Test – Revised.

Table 3 Gender Differences in Life Satisfaction (SWLS), Dispositional Optimism (LOT-R), and Health Behaviors (HBI)

Scales	Women		Men
	M	SD	M	SD	t(347)	p	Cohen’s d
SWLS	21.56	5.71	21.52	5.06	0.07	0.943	0.01
LOT-R	14.21	4.71	15.73	4.24	−3.09	0.002	−0.34
HBI	80.82	13.24	77.05	12.80	2.66	0.008	0.29
HD	3.48	0.76	3.09	0.79	4.68	0.000	0.51
PB	3.36	0.73	3.12	0.72	3.04	0.003	0.33
PMA	3.41	0.71	3.46	0.68	−0.65	0.518	−0.07
HP	3.22	0.71	3.17	0.68	0.58	0.563	0.06

Note: N = 349.

Abbreviations: HBI, Health Behavior Inventory; HD, Healthy Diet; PB, Preventive Behavior; PMA, Positive Mental Attitudes; HP, Healthy Practices; SWLS, Satisfaction With Life Scale; LOT-R, Life Orientation Test – Revised.

Table 4 Pearson’s r Correlations Between Life Satisfaction, Dispositional Optimism and Health Behaviors

Variable	SWLS	LOT-R	HBI	HD	PB	PMA
LOT-R	0.46***
HBI	0.44***	0.27***
HD	0.25***	0.09	0.76***
PB	0.26***	0.14*	0.73***	0.43***
PMA	0.54***	0.44***	0.74***	0.35***	0.42***
HP	0.29***	0.15**	0.75***	0.45***	0.34***	0.49***

Notes: N = 349. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: HBI, Health Behavior Inventory; HD, Healthy Diet; PB, Preventive Behavior; PMA, Positive Mental Attitudes; HP, Healthy Practices; SWLS, Satisfaction With Life Scale; LOT-R, Life Orientation Test – Revised.

Figure 1 Standardized path coefficients for the relationship between life orientation and life satisfaction as mediated by general health behaviors.

Notes: The a₁-path represents the impact of the independent variable (IV = dispositional optimism) on the mediator variable (M = health behaviors). The b₁-path represents the impact of the mediator on the dependent variable (DV = life satisfaction). The c₁-path represents the total effect of IV on the DV and c’ represents the direct effect of IV on DV accounting for the indirect effect of a mediator. ***p < 0.001.

Figure 2 Standardized path coefficients for the relationship between life orientation and life satisfaction as mediated by four types of health behaviors.

Notes: The a-path represents the impact of the independent variable (IV) on the mediator variable (M). The b-path represents the impact of the mediator on the dependent variable (DV). The c-path represents the total effect of IV on the DV and c’ represents the direct effect of IV on DV accounting for the indirect effect of a mediator. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.