The effect of teaching puberty health concepts on the basis of a health belief model for improving perceived body image of female adolescents: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background: As children approach adolescence, they focus increasingly on their appearance and physical attraction due to teenage body-image. Teaching the concepts of adolescent health changes an individual's attitudes towards parts of the body. The health belief model (HBM) is one of the significant pedagogic models in health education. According to this model, the individual's decision and motivation for adopting healthy behaviors depends on three separate categories "personal perception, adaptive behaviors, and probability of performing that action or behavior". This study investigated the effect of teaching puberty health concepts on the basis of a HBM on perceived body image in female adolescents. Methods: A quasi-experimental research design was used in the study. This study was conducted with 60 sixth grade girls in state elementary schools in Yazd, Iran, that were selected with cluster sampling method and assigned randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group were educated in the school during eight 45-min sessions based on the HBM, whereas the control group were educated using the traditional lecturing method. The data were collected with demographic and self-body image questionnaires completed before and after intervention. The data were analyzed with SPSS16 using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results: The mean age of the participants was 12.16 ± 0.74 years. The findings showed that "perceived body image" and "students' self-attitude" improved significantly after intervention; yet, no significant difference was found between the subscales "attitudes towards weight" and "satisfaction with various parts of the body". Conclusion: The results of the study confirmed the efficacy and efficiency of teaching puberty health on the basis of the HBM on improving perceived body image in female adolescents.

The effectiveness of educational program based on health belief model on promotion of puberty health concepts among teen girls: a cross-sectional study in north of Iran

“…The mean perceived sensitivity score of the intervention group increased significantly one month after the educational intervention. A number of studies [ 20 – 22 ] were consistent with the present study, demonstrating the efficiency of HBM in improving the perceived sensitivity in adolescents. Nevertheless, the studies were inconsistent with some studies [ 18 , 23 ], owing to the short duration of education to change attitudes.…”

Interventions of Body Image Disorder among Adolescent: A Literature Review

“…By providing an intervention in the form of puberty education for adolescent girls based on the health belief model, providing a clearer understanding of their bodies, increasing their self-esteem and self-confidence, and increasing their enthusiasm for life and motivation to succeed. By focusing on perceptions, thoughts, and increasing beliefs about the usefulness and implementation of the program and understanding the barriers, education about the concept of pubertal health based on HBM helps students to have a more realistic body image (Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al, 2020).…”

“…The HBI intervention has proven to be effective in having a positive impact on increasing the level of Quality of Life and body image in male and female school adolescents. ( Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al, 2020) Teaching puberty health concepts based on the Health Belief Model.…”

Motivators and barriers to oral hygiene self‐care among adolescents in Malaysia: A qualitative study

“…42,43 The heightened interest in appearance among adolescents is to be expected as it is a sign of puberty. 44 Apart from the concern about one's own self-image, the appearance of others could also motivate adolescents to maintain good oral hygiene. As observed in this study, looking at another person's teeth could trigger the motivation to brush better.…”