An examination of the mediating role of salt knowledge and beliefs on the relationship between socio-demographic factors and discretionary salt use: a cross-sectional study

Table 4 Indirect associations of socioeconomic indicators and knowledge with salt us

	Mediator 1	Mediator 2	Beta	SE	% mediation^a
Education	Declarative knowledge		-0.02	0.01	50
	Misconceptions	Salt taste beliefs	-0.01	0.01	25
Total indirect effect			-0.03	0.01
Total effect ^ns			-0.04	0.04
Age	Declarative knowledge		-0.02	0.01	18
	Salt taste beliefs		-0.04	0.02	36
Total indirect effect			-0.07	0.02
Total effect			-0.11	0.05
Gender	Declarative knowledge		-0.02	0.01
	Salt taste beliefs		-0.06	0.02
Total indirect effect			-0.09	0.02
Total effect ^ns			-0.08	0.04
Declarative knowledge^b			-0.12	0.04
Total indirect effect			-0.02	0.02	13
Total effect			-0.15	0.05
Misconceptions	Salt taste beliefs		0.09	0.02
Total indirect effect			0.09	0.02
Total effect ^ns			0.05	0.05

Note: only statistically significant (p<0.05) paths are shown in this table.
ns: not significant; ^aRatio of indirect effect to total effect is only calculated when total effect is larger than indirect effect to avoid ambiguous estimates [52]; ^bIndicates direct effect.

ISSN: 1479-5868