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Psychological Empowerment and Its Associations With Adolescents' Adiposity Risk: A Structural Equation Modeling
1Department of Child Health and Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Journal of Adolescence
|June 15, 2025
Summary
Psychological empowerment (PE) in adolescents is linked to lower adiposity risk. Enhancing PE may be a strategy for childhood obesity prevention.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Health
- Obesity Research
- Psychological Science
Background:
- Psychological empowerment (PE) is studied in adolescent social behavior but not childhood obesity.
- This study explores the link between health-related PE and adiposity risk in adolescents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between health-related psychological empowerment and adiposity risk among adolescents.
- To determine if psychological empowerment can be a factor in preventing childhood obesity.
Main Methods:
- 505 Chinese adolescents (12-15 years) completed questionnaires on health-related PE and underwent anthropometric measurements.
- Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validated the PE construct's structure.
- Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyzed the association between PE and adiposity indicators.
Main Results:
- The measurement model for PE showed acceptable structural validity.
- SEM revealed a significant negative association between psychological empowerment and adiposity risk.
- This included BMI z-scores, weight-to-height ratios, and body fat percentages (β = -0.145, p = 0.008).
Conclusions:
- Health-related PE is a multi-dimensional factor significantly associated with adolescent adiposity risk.
- Increasing psychological empowerment may be an effective strategy for childhood obesity prevention.
- This approach aligns with adolescents' psychological and developmental requirements.
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