Effectiveness of an Interpersonal Influence Intervention to Increase Commitment to Adopt Health-Promoting Behavior in Nursing Students

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of the “interpersonal influence intervention” conducted by health professionals to increase the commitment to adopt health-promoting behavior in nursing students compared to the usual care of a university wellness program. Patients and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was performed. The study included 114 nursing students from a university in Cali, Colombia, who were divided into a control group (n = 57) that received usual care and an experimental group (n = 57) that received the intervention designed and validated according to Nola Pender’s Health Promotion Model. The main outcome was the lifestyle measured before and after the test using the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II Spanish version. The effect of the intervention was carried out through the average comparison, effect size measures were calculated using Cohen’s d and analysis of the effect of possible confounding variables on the intervention (ANCOVA). Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between the experimental group and the control group (p = 0.015; 95% CI −0.42, −0.05). The effect size of the intervention was 0.49. The interpersonal influences exhibited by health professionals can increase the commitment to adopt health-promoting behaviors (Hypothesis 1), and the greater the commitment to a specific action plan, the more likely it is that health-promoting behaviors will be maintained over time (Hypothesis 2). Conclusion: The effectiveness of the intervention interpersonal influences exerted by health professionals to increase the commitment to adopt health-promoting behavior is proven. Evidence demonstrates the practical utility of the Health Promotion Model.