We investigated the role that fatherhood status and purpose play in predicting men's health behaviors and social support by testing 2 models of mediation. A total of 211 men participated in the study, with 50.2% of participants being fathers with children 5 years of age or younger. Participants completed measures of purpose, cardiac-related health behaviors, and social support via a 10- to 15-min anonymous online survey through Prolific. Path analysis using MPlus was used to test our hypothesized models. Results supported the full mediation model and indicated that (a) being a father related to reporting greater purpose but does not play a direct role in relation to health behaviors or social support. (b) reporting greater purpose directly related to healthier behaviors and more social support, (c) being married related to healthier behaviors and more social support, and (d) being a father had significant indirect effects. being fully mediated by purpose, in predicting men's healthy behaviors and social support. Practices and interventions that promote purpose and health for new fathers are suggested, and related future research directions are discussed.
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