Purpose
Weight loss behaviors are common among Korean female adolescents and are often influenced by distorted body image and sociocultural pressures, leading some to unhealthy practices. This study examined biological, psychological, and social factors associated with weight loss behaviors using Engel’s biopsychosocial model.
Methods
This secondary analysis utilized data from the 19th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2023), focusing on 21,632 female middle and high school students. Logistic regression was conducted to analyze associations between weight loss behaviors and biopsychosocial variables such as body mass index (BMI), grade level, stress, anxiety, body image distortion, smoking, and nutrition education experience.
Results
Among female adolescents, 46.5% reported having attempted weight loss. In logistic regression analysis, biological factors (grade level and BMI percentile), psychological factors (perceived stress, distorted body image, generalized anxiety disorder risk, and smoking), and social factors (nutrition education) were significantly associated with weight loss behaviors. Key predictors included being in middle school (odds ratio [OR], 1.22), higher BMI, elevated stress, distorted body image (OR, 1.90), generalized anxiety, smoking (OR, 1.53), and lack of nutrition education (OR, 1.10). Psychological factors, especially body image distortion and emotional distress, emerged as major contributors to weight loss behaviors.
Conclusion
Weight loss behaviors among Korean female adolescents are influenced by complex biopsychosocial factors beyond physical health concerns. Nursing interventions should incorporate emotional regulation, body image education, and school-based health literacy programs. Early identification through multidimensional assessment is crucial for effective prevention.

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the self-rated health of adolescents and to identify its predictors using longitudinal data from the KCYPS.
Methods
A sample of 2,351 adolescents who were in the first grade of middle school in 2010 was analyzed. The study employed latent growth analysis using data from 2010 to 2016.
Results
Results indicated that self-rated health of adolescents increased, following the form of a linear function. The analyses revealed that adolescent self-perception of health were conceptualized not only by their health-related behaviors, but also by personal, socioeconomic and psychological factors. Specifically, physical activity, passive leisure time activities, gender (initial: b=-.060, slope: b=.030), place of residence (initial: b=-.079), self-rated economic condition (b=.098), working status of mother (b=.016), monthly family income (b=-.001), aggression (b=.061), depression (initial: b=-.104, slope: b=.012), stress (initial: b=-.172, slope: b=.014, ego-resiliency (initial: b=.197, slope: b=-.021), and self-esteem (initial: b=.106, slope: b=-.017) had significant effects on the overall linear change of self-rated health (p<.05 for all estimators above).
Conclusion
The findings of this study suggest that adolescents’ self evaluation of their health is shaped by their total sense of functioning, which includes individual, health-related behavioral, socioeconomic, and psychological factors.

Citations

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  Child & Family Social Work.2026; 31(1): 23.     CrossRef
• National Identity and Self-Rated Health Trajectories Among Multicultural Adolescents in Korea: A Piecewise Latent Growth Model
  You-Jung Choi
  Research in Community and Public Health Nursing.2026; 37: 27.     CrossRef
• Trajectories of subjective health status among married postmenopausal women based on the ecological system theory: a longitudinal analysis using a latent growth model
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  Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing.2022; 28(2): 123.     CrossRef
• Inequalities in Longitudinal Health Trajectories in Middle to Later Life: a Comparison of European Countries and Korea
  Minhye Kim, Young-Ho Khang
  Journal of Korean Medical Science.2020;[Epub]     CrossRef