Study of the Interplay between Health Communication through Sports Social Media and Sports Behavior of Adolescents and Youths——The Mediating Role of Health Beliefs

Objective: This study explores the interplay mechanism among health communication through sports social media, the health beliefs of adolescents and youths, and the sports behavior of adolescents and youths in the new media environment. Method:We collected 258 valid questionnaire responses from students aged 14 to 24 and conducted descriptive statistical analysis, PLSSEM, and PLS-MGA using SPSS and SmartPLS. Results: 1) Health communication through sports social media and the health beliefs of adolescents and youths mutually promote each other; 2) the health beliefs and sports behavior ofadolescents and youths mutually promote each other; 3) health communication through sports social media and the sports behavior of adolescents and youth mutually promote each other; 4) the health beliefs of adolescents and youths partially mediate the interplay between health communication through sports social media and their sports behavior, but the direct effect is stronger; 5) the influence of health communication through sports social media on the health beliefs and sports behavior of adolescents and youth is consistent across gender and age groups. Conclusions: 1) There is a significant interplay between health communication through sports social media and the health beliefs and sports behavior of adolescents and youths, with health information dissemination, self-efficacy enhancement, and sports value cognition being key influencing dimensions; 2) the health beliefs of adolescents and youths play a partial mediating role in the interplay between health communication through sports social media and their sports behavior, but direct communication and behavior promotion remain the main driving forces; 3) health communication through sports social media forms a self-reinforcing communication loop through the interplay with health beliefs and sports behavior, significantly promoting the sustained development of health communication and sports behavior.