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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-SACurrent issues in personality psychology

The importance of self-efficacy and health behaviors in adolescents' body mass index: the mediating roles of body esteem and problematic internet use.

  • Aneta Przepiórka1
  • Agata Błachnio1
  • Paweł Kot1
  • Andrzej Cudo1
  1. 1Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Technical Sciences, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
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Abstract

Background

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between personal characteristics and body mass index (BMI) and the role of problematic Instagram use and body esteem.Participants and procedure

The study included 695 adolescents aged 14-18 years (526 females, M = 17.01, SD = 0.88). The following measures were used: the General Self-Esteem Scale (GSES), the Distress Scale, the Problematic Instagram Use Questionnaire, the Health Behavior Inventory, the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), and body mass index (BMI).Results

The results showed that problematic Instagram use mediated the relationship between distress and BMI. Additionally, body-esteem appearance and body-esteem weight mediated the relationships between distress, self-efficacy, and health behaviors and BMI. The mediating role of body-esteem attribution and problematic Instagram use was found in the relationships between distress, self-efficacy, and health behaviors and BMI.Conclusions

The findings indicate that problematic Instagram use and the dimensions of body esteem play a key mediating role in the associations between distress, self-efficacy, health behaviors, and BMI. These results highlight the importance of addressing body image perceptions and social media use in interventions aimed at promoting healthy weight management and mitigating the negative impact of psychological distress on physical health. These findings can be used to develop workshops and educational programs on social networking sites for adolescents.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{przepiorka2026importance,
  title = {{The importance of self-efficacy and health behaviors in adolescents' body mass index: the mediating roles of body esteem and problematic internet use.}},
  author = {Aneta Przepiórka and Agata Błachnio and Paweł Kot and Andrzej Cudo},
  journal = {Current issues in personality psychology},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.5114/cipp/223927},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42959605},
  note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The importance of self-efficacy and health behaviors in adolescents' body mass index: the mediating roles of body esteem and problematic internet use.
AU  - Aneta Przepiórka
AU  - Agata Błachnio
AU  - Paweł Kot
AU  - Andrzej Cudo
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/26
JO  - Current issues in personality psychology
DO  - 10.5114/cipp/223927
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42959605
AB  - Background  The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between personal characteristics and body mass index (BMI) and the role of problematic Instagram use and body esteem.Participants and procedure  The study included 695 adolescents aged 14-18 years (526 females, M = 17.01, SD = 0.88). The following measures were used: the General Self-Esteem Scale (GSES), the Distress Scale, the Problematic Instagram Use Questionnaire, the Health Behavior Inventory, the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), and body mass index (BMI).Results  The results showed that problematic Instagram use mediated the relationship between distress and BMI. Additionally, body-esteem appearance and body-esteem weight mediated the relationships between distress, self-efficacy, and health behaviors and BMI. The mediating role of body-esteem attribution and problematic Instagram use was found in the relationships between distress, self-efficacy, and health behaviors and BMI.Conclusions  The findings indicate that problematic Instagram use and the dimensions of body esteem play a key mediating role in the associations between distress, self-efficacy, health behaviors, and BMI. These results highlight the importance of addressing body image perceptions and social media use in interventions aimed at promoting healthy weight management and mitigating the negative impact of psychological distress on physical health. These findings can be used to develop workshops and educational programs on social networking sites for adolescents.
SN  - 2353-4192
SN  - 2353-561X
ER  -