IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i5p1680-d328506.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Better Health-Related Knowledge Predict Favorable Health Behavior in Adolescents?

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriella Nagy-Pénzes

    (Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, 26. Kassai street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary
    Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 26. Kassai street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Ferenc Vincze

    (Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, 26. Kassai street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • János Sándor

    (Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, 26. Kassai street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Éva Bíró

    (Division of Health Promotion, Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, 26. Kassai street, 4028 Debrecen, Hungary)

Abstract

The importance of puberty on later health status and behavior is indisputable, which also means that it is worth making intervention efforts during this period of life. However, whether better health-related knowledge is correlated with favorable health behavior in adolescents is an important, still unanswered question. Our objective was to examine this relationship. The participants were ninth-grade secondary school students. Data were collected using anonymous, self-administered questionnaires. The knowledge-related questions were compiled by the authors, while the questions concerning eating habits, physical activity, demographic and socioeconomic data were taken from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey. The relationship between knowledge and behavior was investigated with structural equation modeling adjusted for gender, age, and socioeconomic status. The results demonstrated a good fit to the data, but better knowledge was not related to behavior in our sample. This finding suggests that adolescents’ health behavior is highly influenced by the living context; therefore, appropriate knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to improve adolescents’ behavior. Hence, comprehensive health promotion programs could provide solutions for encouraging healthy behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriella Nagy-Pénzes & Ferenc Vincze & János Sándor & Éva Bíró, 2020. "Does Better Health-Related Knowledge Predict Favorable Health Behavior in Adolescents?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:5:p:1680-:d:328506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/5/1680/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/5/1680/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephanie Haible & Carmen Volk & Yolanda Demetriou & Oliver Höner & Ansgar Thiel & Gorden Sudeck, 2019. "Physical Activity-Related Health Competence, Physical Activity, and Physical Fitness: Analysis of Control Competence for the Self-Directed Exercise of Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Zhifei He & Zhaohui Cheng & Tian Shao & Chunyan Liu & Piaopiao Shao & Ghose Bishwajit & Da Feng & Zhanchun Feng, 2016. "Factors Influencing Health Knowledge and Behaviors among the Elderly in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Torbjørn Torsheim & Franco Cavallo & Kate Ann Levin & Christina Schnohr & Joanna Mazur & Birgit Niclasen & Candace Currie, 2016. "Psychometric Validation of the Revised Family Affluence Scale: a Latent Variable Approach," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(3), pages 771-784, September.
    4. Yan Chen & Hua Ji & Li-Jun Chen & Rong Jiang & Yong-Ning Wu, 2018. "Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior among Dairy Plant Workers in Beijing, Northern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sima Ghazanfari & Ali Firoozzare & Daniela Covino & Flavio Boccia & Nadia Palmieri, 2024. "Exploring Factors Influencing Consumers’ Willingness to Pay Healthy-Labeled Foods at a Premium Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-20, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yekaterina Chzhen & Jennifer Symonds & Dympna Devine & Júlia Mikolai & Susan Harkness & Seaneen Sloan & Gabriela Martinez Sainz, 2022. "Learning in a Pandemic: Primary School children’s Emotional Engagement with Remote Schooling during the spring 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown in Ireland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(4), pages 1517-1538, August.
    2. Maartje Boer & Concepción Moreno-Maldonado & Maxim Dierckens & Michela Lenzi & Candace Currie & Caroline Residori & Lucia Bosáková & Paola Berchialla & Tamsyn Eida & Gonneke Stevens, 2024. "The Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for the Construction of the Family Affluence Scale: Findings from 16 Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 395-418, February.
    3. Leena Paakkari & Minna Torppa & Joanna Mazur & Zuzana Boberova & Gorden Sudeck & Michal Kalman & Olli Paakkari, 2020. "A Comparative Study on Adolescents’ Health Literacy in Europe: Findings from the HBSC Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Anne-Kathrin M. Loer & Olga M. Domanska & Christiane Stock & Susanne Jordan, 2022. "Correction: Loer et al. Subjective Generic Health Literacy and Its Associated Factors among Adolescents: Results of a Population-Based Online Survey in Germany. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 202," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-3, February.
    5. Gerry Redmond & Irene García-Moya & Carmen Moreno & Anna Mooney & Fiona Brooks, 2022. "Gender Differences in the Relationship between Pressure from Schoolwork and Health Complaints: a Three Country Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(3), pages 763-780, June.
    6. Yan Feng & Erpeng Liu & Zhang Yue & Qilin Zhang & Tiankuo Han, 2019. "The Evolutionary Trends of Health Behaviors in Chinese Elderly and the Influencing Factors of These Trends: 2005–2014," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, May.
    7. Sara Brolin Låftman & Maria Granvik Saminathen & Bitte Modin & Petra Löfstedt, 2021. "Excellent Self-Rated Health among Swedish Boys and Girls and Its Relationship with Working Conditions in School: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-9, February.
    8. Margaretha Looze & S. Dorsselaer & G. W. J. M. Stevens & M. Boniel-Nissim & A. Vieno & R. J. J. M. Eijnden, 2019. "The decline in adolescent substance use across Europe and North America in the early twenty-first century: A result of the digital revolution?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(2), pages 229-240, March.
    9. András Költő & Alina Cosma & Honor Young & Nathalie Moreau & Daryna Pavlova & Riki Tesler & Einar B. Thorsteinsson & Alessio Vieno & Elizabeth M. Saewyc & Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, 2019. "Romantic Attraction and Substance Use in 15-Year-Old Adolescents from Eight European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Graham F. Moore & Lianna Angel & Linsay Gray & Lauren Copeland & Jordan Van Godwin & Jeremy Segrott & Britt Hallingberg, 2020. "Associations of Socioeconomic Status, Parental Smoking and Parental E-Cigarette Use with 10–11-Year-Old Children’s Perceptions of Tobacco Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes: Cross Sectional Analysis of the C," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    11. Vanesa Salado & Concepción Moreno-Maldonado & Carmen Moreno & Francisco Rivera, 2022. "The Influence of Developmental Contexts in Adolescent’s Expected Sociopolitical Participation through the Sense of Unity: An Analysis of the Mediation Model Invariance through Sex, Age, and Socioecono," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 107-136, February.
    12. Veronica Velasco & Andrea Gragnano & Gruppo Regionale HBSC Lombardia 2018 & Luca Piero Vecchio, 2021. "Health Literacy Levels among Italian Students: Monitoring and Promotion at School," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, September.
    13. Dario Lipari & Bianca Maria Bocci & Cesare Rivieri & Elena Frongillo & Antonella Miserendino & Andrea Pammolli & Claudia Maria Trombetta & Ilaria Manini & Rita Simi & Giacomo Lazzeri, 2023. "Trend of Correlations between Psychological Symptoms and Socioeconomic Inequalities among Italian Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Study from 2006 to 2018 in Tuscany Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-11, July.
    14. Wahlström, Joakim & Modin, Bitte & Svensson, Johan & Löfstedt, Petra & Låftman, Sara Brolin, 2023. "There’s a tear in my beer: Bullying victimisation and young teenage drinking in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Alberto Borraccino & Noemi Marengo & Paola Dalmasso & Claudia Marino & Silvia Ciardullo & Paola Nardone & Patrizia Lemma & The 2018 HBSC-Italia Group, 2022. "Problematic Social Media Use and Cyber Aggression in Italian Adolescents: The Remarkable Role of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-10, August.
    16. Hansen, Kerstin F. & Stutzer, Alois, 2022. "Parental unemployment, social insurance and child well-being across countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 600-617.
    17. Alberto Borraccino & Paola Berchialla & Paola Dalmasso & Veronica Sciannameo & Alessio Vieno & Giacomo Lazzeri & Lorena Charrier & Patrizia Lemma, 2020. "Connectedness as a protective factor in immigrant youth: results from the Health Behaviours in School-aged Children (HBSC) Italian study," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(3), pages 303-312, April.
    18. Stefan Kühner & Maggie Lau & Evelyn Aboagye Addae, 2021. "The Mediating Role of Social Capital in the Relationship Between Hong Kong Children’s Socioeconomic Status and Subjective Well-Being," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(5), pages 1881-1909, October.
    19. Camille Pedroni & Maud Dujeu & Thérésa Lebacq & Véronique Desnouck & Emma Holmberg & Katia Castetbon, 2021. "Alcohol consumption in early adolescence: Associations with sociodemographic and psychosocial factors according to gender," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, January.
    20. Vladimir Hobza & Zdenek Hamrik & Jens Bucksch & Bart De Clercq, 2017. "The Family Affluence Scale as an Indicator for Socioeconomic Status: Validation on Regional Income Differences in the Czech Republic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-9, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:5:p:1680-:d:328506. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.