Social Support and Positive Health Practices

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between positive health practices and social support, self-esteem, and optimism. The relationships between social support and self-esteem and between social support and optimism were also examined. Two alternative mediational models. with self-esteem in Model 1 and optimism in Model 2, were tested to help explain the relationship between social support and positive health practices in middle-age adults. The sample of 202 middle-age adults completed a demographic data sheet, the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire, Personal Resource Questionnaire 85-Part 2, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Revised Life Orientation Test. The five correlational hypotheses were supported. Social support, self-esteem, and optimism were all positively related to positive health practices, and social support was positively related to self-esteem and optimism. The two mediational models tested with regression analyses were not supported.