The mediating effects of post-pandemic health promotion behaviors in the relationship between anxiety and quality of life in young adults in South Korea: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of health promotion behavior (HPB) in the relationship between anxiety and quality of life (QoL) in young adults living in the post-pandemic era. Methods: A cross-sectionaldescriptiveonlinesurveydesign was utilized. Data on anxiety, QoL, HPB, and demographic characteristics were collected from 213 adults aged 19-35 years in Korea via an on-line survey in January 2024. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS MACRO 4.2 software. Results: Strong correlations were observed among anxiety, QoL, and post-pandemic HPB (PP-HPB) in young adults, andanxiety and PP-HPB were identified as significant predictors of QoL. The total effect of anxiety on QoL was significant (B = −1.40, bootstrapped SE = 0.10), with both the direct effect (B = −0.70, bootstrapped SE = 0.09) and the indirect effect (B = −0.70, bootstrapped SE = 0.11) being significant. This suggests that PP-HPB partially mediated the relationship between anxiety and QoL. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of strengthening HPB with consideration of life changes since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic to improve QoL among young adults with anxiety.