Lang Xiaorong, Huang Sufang, Xiao Yaru
Department of Nursing, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Department of Emergency, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Jul 22;15(8):996. doi: 10.3390/bs15080996.
(1) The formation pathways and underlying mechanisms of health behaviors among young and middle-aged adults with chronic diseases under a temporal perspective remain underexplored. Based on Temporal Self-Regulation Theory and its subsequent extensions, this study aimed to investigate the time perspective among Chinese young and middle-aged adults with chronic diseases and analyzed the relationships between time perspective, illness perception, health behavior motivation, and health behaviors, thereby providing valuable empirical evidence for health behavior modification in this population. (2) This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from March to April 2025. Structural Equation Modeling was employed to investigate the relationships among the variables. (3) This study enrolled a total of 391 participants with high levels of future and past-positive perspectives. Time perspective, directly related to health behaviors, namely past-negative, present-impulsive, and present-fatalistic perspectives, exerted negative associations with health behaviors, respectively, whereas future and past-positive perspectives showed positive associations with health behavior. Analysis of the mediating effect found that illness perception served as a mediator between the time perspective of past-negative, present-impulsive, and present-fatalistic perspectives, and health behaviors. And health behavior motivation acted as a mediator in the relationship between past-negative, present-impulsive, and past-positive perspectives, and health behaviors. Furthermore, illness perception and health behavior motivation formed a chain mediation pathway between time perspective and health behaviors. (4) Time perspective was associated with health behaviors, not only exerting directed effects but also manifesting a double-edged sword effect through illness perception and health behavior motivation. Subsequent interventions targeting health behaviors among young and middle-aged populations in China should incorporate considerations of the temporal perspective's uniqueness and its intricate mechanisms of action on health behaviors.
（1）在时间维度下，慢性病中青年成年人健康行为的形成路径及潜在机制仍未得到充分探索。基于时间自我调节理论及其后续扩展，本研究旨在调查中国慢性病中青年成年人的时间观，并分析时间观、疾病认知、健康行为动机与健康行为之间的关系，从而为该人群的健康行为改变提供有价值的实证依据。（2）本研究是一项于2025年3月至4月进行的横断面调查。采用结构方程模型来研究变量之间的关系。（3）本研究共招募了391名具有高水平未来和过去积极时间观的参与者。与健康行为直接相关的时间观，即过去消极、当前冲动和当前宿命时间观，分别与健康行为呈负相关，而未来和过去积极时间观与健康行为呈正相关。中介效应分析发现，疾病认知在过去消极、当前冲动和当前宿命时间观与健康行为之间起中介作用。健康行为动机在过去消极、当前冲动和过去积极时间观与健康行为之间的关系中起中介作用。此外，疾病认知和健康行为动机在时间观与健康行为之间形成了链式中介路径。（4）时间观与健康行为相关，不仅具有直接效应，还通过疾病认知和健康行为动机表现出双刃剑效应。中国后续针对中青年人群健康行为的干预措施应考虑时间观的独特性及其对健康行为的复杂作用机制。
