Mediating and Moderating Effects of Family Cohesion between Positive Psychological Capital and Health Behavior among Early Childhood Parents in Dual Working Families: A Focus on the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined the mediating and moderating effects of family cohesion on the relationship between positive psychological capital and health promotion behaviors among dual working parents of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected data from 214 dual working parents and analyzed the results using the IMB SPSS version 26.0 software. We found that positive psychological capital had significant effects on both family cohesion (β = 0.19, p < 0.001) and health promotion behaviors (β = 0.26, p < 0.001), while family cohesion showed a significant mediating effect on health promotion behaviors (β = 0.34, p = 0.002). Positive psychological capital (independent variable) also had significant effects on health promotion behaviors (β = 0.19, p < 0.001). Finally, a Sobel test showed that family cohesion had a significant partial mediating effect on the relationship between positive psychological capital and health promotion behaviors (Z = 2.70, p = 0.005) but no moderating effect. Thus, it is necessary to enhance health promotion behaviors through programs focused on both family cohesion and positive psychological capital. However, the fact that participants in this study were only from South Korea highlights the requirement for future research that includes participants from different cultural contexts and social systems.