Health behaviors as a mediator of the association between interpersonal relationships and physical health in a workplace context

The etiology of diseases is multifactorial, involving genetic, environmental, and lifestyle-related behaviors. Considering the pathway that involves behavioral processes, a huge body of empirical evidence has shown that some healthy behaviors such as non-smoking, any or moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, (e.g., fruit and vegetable intake), and physical activity, decrease the risk of disease and mortality. This study aimed to explore the potential mediating effect of combined health behaviors on the association between interpersonal relationships and physical health in a Brazilian adult worker population from the Occupational Health Service within the oil industry in Bahia, Brazil. The sample included 611 workers, of which 567 (92.8%) were males and 44 (7.2%) females, age ranging from 18 to 73 years (M = 41.95; SD = 8.88). The significant predictors of physical health were interpersonal relationships and health behaviors. Health behaviors contributed significantly to a reduction in the effect of interpersonal relationships on physical health outcomes. As far as it is known, there has been no prior work in Brazil that simultaneously examined the best predictors of physical health in oil workers using this conceptual model. Interventions in the workplace environment need to consider health behavior as a mediator between interpersonal relationships and physical health, aligned in a global psychosocial approach to health at work.