Title: Predicting Adolescents' Critical Health Judgment And Resistance To Health Misinformation In The Social Media Era: The Contribution Of Biology Education
Authors: EWEYEJU, Akporoghene
Volume: 10
Issue: 7
Pages: 361-367
Publication Date: 2026/07/28
Abstract:
The proliferation of health misinformation on social media poses significant challenges to adolescents' ability to make informed decision. Therefore, this study investigated the contribution of Biology Education to adolescents' critical health judgment and resistance to health misinformation in the social media era. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. A predictive correlational research design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in Delta State, Nigeria. The population comprised 29,068 Senior Secondary School Two (SS II) students in 478 public secondary schools across the three senatorial districts of Delta State. A sample of 379 students was selected using the Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table and a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Biology Education, Critical Health Judgment and Health Misinformation Questionnaire (BECHJHMQ). The instrument consisted of 60 items distributed across three constructs: Biology Education, Critical Health Judgment, and Resistance to Health Misinformation. Face and content validity of the instrument were established by two experts in Science Education and one expert in Measurement and Evaluation. Reliability was established through a pilot study involving 30 SS II students in Edo State using Cronbach Alpha, yielding coefficients of 0.82, 0.85, and 0.88 for Biology Education, Critical Health Judgment, and Resistance to Health Misinformation respectively, with an overall reliability coefficient of 0.85. Out of the 379 copies of the questionnaire administered, 371 were properly completed and used for analysis. Data were analyzed using coefficient of determination (Rē) to answer the research questions and simple linear regression to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that Biology Education moderately predicted adolescents' critical health judgment and highly predicted their resistance to health misinformation. The study further revealed that Biology Education significantly predicted adolescents' critical health judgment and resistance to health misinformation in the social media era. The study concluded that Biology Education plays a significant role in enhancing adolescents' capacity to critically evaluate health information and resist health misinformation encountered on social media platforms. It was recommended, among others, that Biology teachers should incorporate activities that develop students' critical evaluation of online health information and that curriculum planners should integrate health misinformation literacy into Biology instruction.