Relationship between Cultural Perspectives and Mental Health Behavior: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objectives: There is deep connection between cultural factors and mental health behavior. This study aimed to measure the impact of cultural factors like socio-economic status, traditional health beliefs and social support on the mental health behavior of the Chinese people. Methods: The study adopted a survey- based research design to critically collect data about a population of the Chinese people who are generally individualistic and less prone to collectivism or cultural proximity. A sample of 392 respondents was randomly chosen by following the sample size estimation recommended by Krejcie and Morgan1. Results: The findings of the study confirmed that all three variables social support, traditional health beliefs and socio-economic status proved to be significant predictors influencing the mental health behavior of Chinese people. The study also found the impact of these three variables on the mental health behavior of Chinese people as positive. Meanwhile the study also contributed significantly to the domain of healthcare, which has so far remained an unnoticed factor for the scholarly discussion. Conclusion: The findings reiterate that factors like health beliefs and social support are necessary because they help to develop an understanding between people, and transmission of health-related information. Since the study tested the direct relationships between variables in this research, it showed no multivariate features. Hence, future studies could modify the model with further mediation or moderating factors to show the different dynamics of the model.