Mediation Analysis of the Relationships between God Locus of Control and Health Behaviors in College Students

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine whether self-efficacy, social support, congregational social support, or divine support mediate the relationship between college students’ religious/spiritual health locus of control and health behaviors of physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and dietary fat intake. Participants included 838 college students at two public universities in the southeastern United States that completed online surveys of God locus of health control, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and dietary fat and self-efficacy, social support, congregational social support, and divine support. Mediation was tested with product of coefficients approach. Results showed that congregational social support mediated the relationship between God locus of health control and physical activity. There was no evidence of mediation for any of the other health behaviors or mediators. Individuals that utilize God as a health source for locus of control have higher perceived religious social coping and support, which relates to their physical activity behaviors. Implications are for health and fitness practitioners within settings that incorporate faith, congregations, and social interaction.

Loneliness, student engagement, and academic achievement during emergency remote teaching during COVID-19: the role of the God locus of control

“…Third, the present study enriches empirical evidence regarding the GLC in Asian countries, while previous studies have primarily concerned Western countries Wilcox, 2020a, 2020b;Murray et al, 2006;Price and Collett, 2012;Zarzycka et al, 2021). Furthermore, studies on the GLC have focused more on the health sector (e.g., Boyd and Wilcox, 2020a;Green and Hina, 2022) than the education sector-the focus here. Specifically, we expand and support recent empirical evidence concerning the effect of the GLC in an online learning setting during the pandemic.…”

Through Him and With Him? A Longitudinal Study of How God-Mediated Control Beliefs Shape the Relationship between Divine Forgiveness and Physical Health in Later Life

“…The belief that God has a hand in controlling individual behavior may make people feel more connected to something much larger than themselves and empower them to make adaptive decisions. One recent study also found that individuals reporting a higher God locus of control had higher perceived religious coping and support, which associated with higher physical activity engagement (Boyd & Wilcox, 2020; see also Welton et al, 1996). Taken together, this line of evidence suggests that working together with a trusted other and friend to reach desired objectives should be health-promoting (Krause, 2010).…”

Moderating role of locus of control over health belief model: a study of horticulturists’ protective behavior

“…A study has previously discussed the perceived behavioral control in influencing good agricultural practices (Ranjbar et al, 2021). The reason to explore the role of locus of control in protective behavior, is that the results of different studies show that the locus of control is a significant indicator of health behaviors (Boyd & Wilcox, 2020;Clark et al, 2018;Conell-Price & Jamison, 2015;Pedron et al, 2021). Furthermore, it is worthy to note whether difference in protective behavior as a health behavior is only related to self-preference or other variables which are sometimes rooted in stereotypes, which also plays a leading role (Conell-Price & Jamison, 2015).…”