{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nThe increasing use of social media as a source of health information has highlighted the need to understand the psychological factors influencing individuals' intentions to seek health-related information online, particularly within the South African context.Objective\n\nThis study aimed to determine the psychological predictors of behavioral intention (BI) to seek health information on social media within a developing South African context.Methods\n\nAdopting a positivist quantitative approach, data were collected from 214 social media users aged 18 to 35 years using a nonprobability convenience sample and analyzed through structural equation modeling using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS.Results\n\nThe findings from the sample of 214 young adults showed that perceived susceptibility (β=0.189; P=.01), perceived severity (β=0.288; P=.001), health motivation (β=0.462; P<.001), perceived benefits (β=0.221; P=.02), and cues to action (β=0.281; P<.001) significantly increased users' intentions to seek, verify, and share accurate health information. Self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on BI (β=-0.251; P=.008), whereas perceived barriers had no significant effect (β=-0.028, P=.65).Conclusions\n\nBased on these insights, the psychological predictors of BI to seek health information on social media within a South African context are proposed to support users in identifying and managing misinformation, offering practical implications for risk communication strategies and public health interventions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Management and Commerce, University of Fort Hare, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.",
    "Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Fort Hare, 50 Church Street, East London, Eastern Cape, 5201, South Africa, 27 0835184009."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sivile Manene",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6194-0010"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Liezel Cilliers",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9493-4311"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hay5fpaa1ntq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.2196/98444",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13690338",
  "id": "6hay5fpaa1ntq",
  "issns": [
    "1947-2579"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42912963",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3306|Social Media in Health Education"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7172424515",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13690338?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13690338",
  "pmid": "42912963",
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hay5fpaa1ntq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42912963",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42912963"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "A Health Belief Model Approach to Determining Psychological Predictors of Behavioral Intention to Seek Health Information on Social Media: Quantitative Descriptive Study.",
  "title_text": "A Health Belief Model Approach to Determining Psychological Predictors of Behavioral Intention to Seek Health Information on Social Media: Quantitative Descriptive Study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6hay5fpaa1ntq",
  "venue": "Online journal of public health informatics",
  "versions": []
}