Distal and Proximal Factors of Health Behaviors and Their Associations with Health in Children and Adolescents

作者：Laemmle Lena; Woll Alexander; Mensink Gert B M; Boes Klaus

来源：International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2013, 10(7): 2944-2978.

DOI：10.3390/ijerph10072944

• psychosocial determinants
• health behavior
• objective health
• health complaints
• subjective health

Objective: The aim of the present paper was to analyze factors affecting distal and proximal health behavior within a biopsychosocial model for examining their interactions and associations with respect to health. Methods: Path analysis was based on the nationwide, cross-sectional German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (2003 to 2006). The data was collected from 4,529 participants with an average age of 9.45 years (SD = 4.01). Socio-demographic data, psychosocial factors and health behavior were assessed via questionnaire. Participants also underwent physical fitness tests and a medical examination. Results: Over the five levels of the model analyzed with socioeconomic status, immigration background, and rural-urban differences on the first level; physical activity of relatives and peers, intrinsic motivation, and quality of life on the second level; eating patterns, sedentary behavior, and physical activity on the third level; physical fitness and objective health on the fourth level; and health complaints and subjective health on the fifth level; direct, moderation, and mediation effects could be shown. Conclusions: Several distal and proximal factors are needed to take account of the multivariate complexity of health: e.g., immigration background affected health behaviors only indirectly and the effect of physical activity on objective health was mediated by physical fitness.

• 出版日期2013-7