The effects of cognitive-perceptual factors on health promotion behavior maintenance.

A causal model that examines the role of cognitive-perceptual factors (control over health, self-efficacy, and health status) in health-promoting behavior maintenance was tested using a sample of 1,339 women who participated in a two-wave national health survey. The sample was split to reserve half the data for an uncompromised validity test of the model. Initial tests of the causal model indicated that the model did not fit the data. A minimally modified model fit the observed covariance data and explained about one third of the variance in the health-promoting behaviors (self-actualization, health responsibility, exercise, and nutrition). Validation of the model with the uncompromised half of the data further supported the model. Although the cognitive-perceptual factors were an integral part of the model, their effects on particular health-promoting behaviors were small in magnitude and contributed little to the explanation of the specific health-promoting behaviors or their stability.