Abstract
To unpack the process of how health information seeking influences health behaviors, we examined the mediating roles of interpersonal discussion and online information sharing in the associations between health information seeking and healthy lifestyle behaviors and the moderating role of health literacy in the associations among health information seeking, interpersonal discussion, online information sharing, and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Data from a large-scale, representative survey (N = 916) revealed that interpersonal discussion and online information sharing mediated the associations between health information seeking and healthy lifestyle behaviors. The associations between health information seeking and interpersonal discussion and between health information seeking and online information sharing were stronger for individuals with high health literacy than those with low health literacy. Findings advance the understanding of the influence of health information seeking and provide practical guidance for promoting a healthy lifestyle. © 2024 Society for Public Health Education.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 113-121 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Health Education and Behavior |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Online published | 22 Sept 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Full text of this publication does not contain sufficient affiliation information. With consent from the author(s) concerned, the Research Unit(s) information for this record is based on the existing academic department affiliation of the author(s).Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Strategic Research Grant from the City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 7005700) and the Major Program of the National Social Science Fund of China (Project No. 21&ZD318).
Research Keywords
- health information seeking
- interpersonal discussion
- information sharing
- health literacy
- health behaviors