The relationship between depression, self-efficacy, social support, and health-promoting behaviors in Korean single-household women

This descriptive, cross-sectional study purposed to identify the relationship between depression, self-efficacy, social support, and health-promoting behaviors in adult single-household women in Korea. An online survey was completed by 204 adult single-household women in Korea from November to December 2019. The structured questionnaire included items measuring depression, health-related self-efficacy, social support, health-promoting behaviors, and demographic and health-related characteristics. Descriptive statistics were computed, and mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. The average age of the participants was 34.38, and the average duration of living alone was 7.13 years. The health-promoting behavior of single-household women scored 125.85 in average within the possible score range of 52–208. It was verified that social support has a moderated mediating effect that regulates the mediating effect in the pathway by which depression affects health-promoting behaviors through self-efficacy. In conclusion, self-efficacy was found to play a mediating role between depression and health-promoting behaviors, and social support had a moderated mediating effect on the path from depression to health-promoting behaviors through self-efficacy. To encourage the health-promoting behaviors of single-household women, interventions targeting both increased social support and self-efficacy are suggested.