Psychological Mediators of the Relationship Between Menopausal Symptoms and Health-Promoting Behaviors in Middle-Aged Women

Background/Objectives: Menopausal symptoms may negatively influence health-promoting behaviors in middle-aged women, but the psychological mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. This study examined whether self-efficacy, self-acceptance, and aging anxiety mediate the relationship between menopausal symptoms and health-promoting behaviors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 114 middle-aged women. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation analysis and a parallel multiple mediation model using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 4) with bootstrapping (5000 resamples). Results: Menopausal symptoms were negatively correlated with self-efficacy, self-acceptance, and health-promoting behaviors and positively correlated with aging anxiety. Menopausal symptoms had a significant total effect on health-promoting behaviors (B = −0.126, p < 0.05), but the direct effect became non-significant after including the mediators (B = −0.006, 95% CI [−0.120, 0.111]). Significant indirect effects were observed through self-efficacy (B = −0.057, 95% CI [−0.121, −0.006]) and self-acceptance (B = −0.040, 95% CI [−0.074, −0.003]), whereas aging anxiety was not significant. The model explained 38.0% of the variance in health-promoting behaviors. Conclusions: The findings suggest that self-efficacy and self-acceptance play important mediating roles in the relationship between menopausal symptoms and health-promoting behaviors, highlighting the importance of psychological resources in the health management of middle-aged women.