Psychosocial differences associated with body weight among female adolescents: the importance of body image

doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00118-4

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 26, Issue 5, May 2000, Pages 330-337

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00118-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether overweight female adolescents differ from normal and underweight female adolescents with respect to a set of psychosocial factors, while controlling for body image.

Methods: Female participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 3197) were selected for analysis. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to test whether overweight subjects differed from normal and underweight subjects with respect to measures of depression, self-esteem, trouble in school, school connectedness, family connectedness, sense of community, autonomy, protective factors, and grades. Stepdown F-tests and discriminant function coefficients provided information regarding the strength of specific factors in contributing to overall differences.

Results: MANOVA revealed significant differences between groups on the combined set of psychosocial factors. Self-esteem defined the difference in a positive direction while grades defined the difference inversely. When controlling for body image, multidimensional group differences were still evident; however, self-esteem was no longer a significant contributing variable.

Conclusions: While overweight female adolescents seem to suffer from low self-esteem, it may be explained by body image. Efforts should be directed toward encouraging and supporting healthy eating patterns and physical activity while encouraging students to recognize personal strengths not related to physique.

Section snippets

Survey and sample characteristics

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was designed to identify the multiple social and behavioral forces that have an impact on the health-related behaviors of adolescents. Add Health is a longitudinal study consisting of two waves. Wave I took place between September 1994 and April 1995. A sample of 80 high schools selected from all eligible high schools in the United States that had an 11th grade and at least 30 enrollees in the school (n = 26,666). The sample was

Results

Table 1 offers a description of the characteristics of the sample. The mean age of overweight subjects (n = 668) was significantly different from that of normal/underweight subjects (16.3 and 15.9, respectively). BMI averaged 29.3 for overweight and 20.6 for normal/underweight subjects. The majority of respondents were white. Many subjects responded that they belonged to more than one ethnic group, making it difficult to determine accurate percentages. Table 2 presents group differences and

Discussion

Adolescence is a period of life marked by pronounced physical, psychological, emotional, and social changes. The physical changes that characterize this life stage have been implicated as a trigger for body image problems in both males and females. Boys typically experience positive feelings toward their changing bodies because of the increase in muscle mass (32), which may be socially beneficial. Girls generally become more dissatisfied with their bodies following puberty in part because of

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Original ArticlesPsychosocial differences associated with body weight among female adolescents: the importance of body image

Abstract

Section snippets

Survey and sample characteristics

Results

Discussion

J Adolesc Health

J Psychosom Res

Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescentsthe National Health and Examination Surveys, 1963–1991

Arch Pediatr Med

The relation between body mass index and plasma total cholesterol in a multiracial sample of US schoolchildren

Am J Epidemiol

Body fat patterning and blood pressure in children and young adultsthe Bogalusa Heart Study

Hypertension

Self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescentsliterature review

Obes Res

Self-esteem and change in body mass index over three years in a cohort of adolescents

Obes Res

Eating attitudes in urban and suburban adolescents

Int J Eat Disord

Social and economic consequences of overweight in adolescence and young adulthood

N Engl J Med

Self and identity development

Body image and body weight in obese patients

Int J Eat Disord

Psychological correlates of obesitymoving to the next research generation

Psych Bull

Relationship of body image perception and weight status to recent change in weight status of the adolescent female

Adolescence

A new measure of the role of shape and weight in self-conceptThe Shape and Weight Based Self-esteem Inventory

Cog Ther Res

Salience of weight-related worries in adolescent males and females

Int J Eat Disord

Overweight and depression

J Health Soc Behav

The relationship between self-esteem and depression in obese children

Ann NY Acad Sci

Sex differences and adolescent depression

J Abnorm Psychol

Dissatisfaction with weight and figure in obese girls but not depression

Int J Obes

Psychiatric symptoms in adolescence as predictors of obesity in early adulthooda longitudinal study

Am J Public Health

Family relations and psychosocial risk in families with an obese adolescent

Psychol Rep

Original Articles
Psychosocial differences associated with body weight among female adolescents: the importance of body image