Influence of perceived stress on health-promoting behaviors in patients with metabolic syndrome: the multiple mediating roles of adaptability and social support.

: To explore the potential associations between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors based on the theoretical schema of the middle-range theory of adaptation to chronic illness. From January to May 2021, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit 230 young and middle-aged patients with metabolic syndrome who underwent physical examination in the inpatient center of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The Health-Promoting Health Profile-Ⅱ, Chinese Perceived Stress Scale, Coping and Adaptation Processing Scale-Short Form, and Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used in the cross-sectional study. The chain mediation effect procedure and bootstrap sampling test were used to examine the mediating role of adaptability and social support between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors. The mean score of health-promoting behaviors was 100.0±14.6, the mean score of perceived stress was 22.0± 6.9, the mean score of adaptability was 47.0±6.1, and the mean score of social support was 63.8±10.8. Perceived stress had a negative impact on patients' health-promoting behaviors (=-0.309, <0.05). The adaptability (effect size= -0.112, 95%:-0.199~-0.038) and social support (effect size= -0.032, 95%:-0.083~played a mediating role and a chain mediating role in the process of perceived stress influencing patients' health-promoting behaviors (effect size= -0.045, 95%:-0.093~-0.020). Adaptability and social support play an intermediary role between perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors in young and middle-aged patients with metabolic syndrome. Healthcare professionals can motivate patients to develop healthy behaviors by developing intervention strategies on adaptability and social support.