Investigation into Effective Factors Affecting the Self-Esteem of University Students Using a PLS-SEM Model

In this study, we investigated the associations among university students' self-esteem, social appearance anxiety, food craving acceptance, willingness to consume a healthy diet, body mass index, subjective evaluation of weight change, and fast-food intake level. Data from 387 students were collected using an individual information form, the Food Craving Acceptance and Action Scale, the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and analysed using bootstrapped partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Self-esteem was negatively associated with social appearance anxiety and positively associated with willingness to consume a healthy diet (p < 0.05). Although the direct association between body mass index and self-esteem was non-significant (p > 0.05), significant negative indirect associations emerged, through willingness to consume a healthy diet and/or social appearance anxiety (p < 0.05). Contrary to expectations, a significant negative association was found between food craving acceptance and willingness to consume a healthy diet (p < 0.05). Self-esteem was indirectly associated with fast-food intake level and food craving acceptance negatively, and with subjective evaluation of weight change positively. Despite its high complexity and low explanatory power, the model achieved medium PLS predictive power, demonstrating some out-of-sample predictive relevance for the majority of indicators within the current PLSpredict framework. These findings are inherently exploratory, serving as a foundational framework for future longitudinal research while offering valuable insights for professionals providing health and psychological guidance to university students.