PREDICTING ADOLESCENTS' CRITICAL HEALTH JUDGMENT AND RESISTANCE TO HEALTH MISINFORMATION IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA: THE CONTRIBUTION OF BIOLOGY EDUCATION

The proliferation of health misinformation on social media raises concerns about adolescents’ ability to evaluate health claims and make informed decisions. This study examined the extent to which Biology Education scores statistically predicted adolescents’ critical health judgment and reported resistance to health misinformation in the social media era. A predictive correlational design was adopted in Delta State, Nigeria. The target population comprised 29,068 Senior Secondary School II (SS II) students in 478 public secondary schools. A sample of 379 students was selected through a multistage procedure, and 371 usable questionnaires were analysed. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 60-item questionnaire with three constructs: Biology Education, critical health judgment, and resistance to health misinformation. Three experts reviewed the instrument, and reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.82, 0.85, and 0.88, respectively. Simple linear regression was used. The reported models indicated that Biology Education scores were positively associated with critical health judgment (R = .71, R² = .5041) and resistance to health misinformation (R = .76, R² = .5776); both models were statistically significant (p < .001). Biology Education moderately predicted critical health judgment and highly predicted resistance to health misinformation. The study concluded that Biology Education scores were significant statistical predictors of both outcomes, although the correlational design does not establish a causal relationship. It was recommended that Biology teachers incorporate the critical evaluation of online health information into classroom instruction and that curriculum planners integrate health misinformation literacy into Biology education. Biology instruction should also include evidence evaluation and guided analysis of online health claims to support students digital health literacy.