The subjects of this study were 274 college women, living in Seoul, Chung-Buk, and Kangwon, during the period from May 10 to July 15, 2000.

The instruments for this study were the health promoting lifestyles scale developed by Bak, Insuk(1995), the self efficacy scale by Sherer et al. (1982), the social support scale by Su, Moonja(1988), the self-esteem scale by Rosenberg(1965) and the perceived health status scale by Lawton et al.(1982).

The results of this study are as follows;

1. The average score for health promoting lifestyles was 2.45 on a 4 point scale. The health promoting lifestyles categories 'harmony relationships' (3.04) and 'sanitary life'(3.02) revealed higher scores, whereas scores for 'healthy diet' (2.32), 'exercise & activity' (2.14) and 'professional health management' (1.48) were lower.

2. The mean score for self-efficacy, social support, self esteem and perceived health status was 3.38 (on a 5 point scale), 2.88 (on a 4 point scale), 2.98(on a 4 point scale) and 3.08(on a 5 point scale) respectively.

3. Health promoting lifestyles showed significant positive correlation with self efficacy, social support, self esteem and perceived health status.

4. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the most powerful predictor of health promoting lifestyle was self efficacy. Self efficacy, social support, and perceived health status have significant effects on health promoting lifestyles. These predictive variables of health promoting lifestyles explained 25% of variance.

Finally, the result of this study will provide important factors for the development of a nursing intervention program for the promotion of healthy lifestyles in college women.