<![CDATA[Background: Social media is an important information and social environment for adolescents and may be associated with health-related behaviors. Objective: This study examined the association between social media use and adolescent health behaviors. Methods: A quantitative analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among 197 adolescents who completed an online questionnaire. Social media was assessed using five Likert-scale indicators covering use, exposure to health-related accounts or content, interaction with health content, perceptions of healthy lifestyles, and participation in health trends. Health behavior was assessed using five indicators covering healthy eating, regular exercise, stress management, adequate sleep, and avoidance of unhealthy behaviors. Descriptive statistics and reliability analysis were performed in SPSS. Because both composite scores were not normally distributed, Spearman’s rank correlation was used. Results: The mean social media score was 3.518 (SD 0.5209; n=197), while the mean health behavior score was 3.755 (SD 0.5095; n=195). A positive, moderate, statistically significant association was observed between social media and health behavior (ρ=0.470, p<0.001; n=195). Conclusion: Higher social media scores were associated with higher adolescent health behavior scores. The finding supports the relevance of social media in adolescent health promotion, while the cross-sectional design and relatively low internal consistency of the measures require cautious interpretation.]]>
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