The relationship between social participation and self-rated health in persons with psychiatric disabilities: Is the health behavior mediation model useful

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the relationship between social participation (SP) and self-rated health (SRH) with health behavior (HB) as a mediating variable, and suggests strategies for improving physical health care provided to individuals with psychiatric disabilities (PDs). Methods: Data of 202 individuals with PDs from the 2017 National Survey of the Disabled Persons were extracted and examined using descriptive and regression analyses. Results: The results show that 36.6% of the respondents reported smoking, 40.6% for exercising not regularly, and 50.5% and 62.4% for general health screening and cancer screening, respectively. Of the 15 categories of SP listed on the questionnaire, the average number of categories the respondents participated in during the week prior to the survey was 2.11. Results from the multivariate and logistic regression analyses revealed that the relationship between SP and HB and that of SP and SRH are both significant. However, there is no evidence of the mediating effect of HB between SP and SRH. Conclusion: The authors provide insights on these results and emphasize the potential benefits of SP in the development of peer norms and support mechanisms that can facilitate changes in HB, which in turn can affect SRH. In addition, an increased public investment at the structural level is recommended to improve the integrated physical and mental health care system for individuals with PDs.