Purpose The purpose of this study was to explain the health promotion behavior of Chinese international students in Korea using a structural equation model including acculturation factors. Method A survey using self-administered questionnaires was employed. Data were collected from 272 Chinese students who have resided in Korea for longer than 6 months. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results The p value of final model is.31. The fitness parameters of the final model such as goodness of fit index, adjusted goodness of fit index, normed fit index, non-normed fit index, and comparative fit index were more than.95. Root mean square of residual and root mean square error of approximation also met the criteria. Self-esteem, perceived health status, acculturative stress and acculturation level had direct effects on health promotion behavior of the participants and the model explained 30.0% of variance. Conlcusions The Chinese students in Korea with higher self-esteem, perceived health status, acculturation level, and lower acculturative stress reported higher health promotion behavior. The findings can be applied to develop health promotion strategies for this population. © 2016, Korean Society of Nursing Science. Published by Elsevier.

Social support Health status Self-esteem Health promotion Acculturation

South Korea Republic of Korea education program health promotion acculturative stress human Health Behavior Asian continental ancestry group priority journal health status social support self esteem procedures Cross-Sectional Studies Surveys and Questionnaires student Young Adult cross-sectional study migrant psychology Humans male Emigrants and Immigrants Acculturation female stress questionnaire self concept cultural factor theoretical model Models, Theoretical Article major clinical study adult structural equation modeling Chinese international student Students Korea health survey