Gender and the Relationship Between Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Behaviors for Cardiovascular Health Among Adults – The Effects of Conditional Process Modeling

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality among men and women in most industrialized and many developing countries. Cardiovascular health (CVH) is a relatively new term that focuses on maintaining good health not only on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Purpose: To demonstrate gender differences in selected elements regarding CVH, such as cardio-protection knowledge, behaviors for CVH, and self-efficacy and in the relationships between them. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 157 respondents (70% women) aged 20-60 was included. The research tool consisted of four parts: the List of Health Behaviors - CVH version, the Test of Cardio-protection Knowledge, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and a sociomedical survey. To estimate the direct and indirect effects between the variables, a bootstrapping procedure was adopted, as recommended for small- and medium-sized samples. Results: There were no gender differences in cardio-protection knowledge, but the groups differed in the levels of behaviors for CVH and self-efficacy. Women generally declared a higher level of healthy behaviors, whereas men demonstrated a higher level of self-efficacy. Women reported more healthy activities related to diet. Men more frequently practiced resistance exercise. The relationships between cardio-protection knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors for CVH were different in men and women. Conclusion: Further research should focus more on gender differences in mechanisms underlying health behaviors. Health-promoting programs should give more attention than before to how to differentiate the messages sent to men and women.