Influence of Body Dissatisfaction on the Self-Esteem of Brazilian Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The present study investigated the influence of body dissatisfaction (BD) on the self-esteem of Brazilian adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1011 students at public and private schools in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. The body shape questionnaire and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale were applied. Chi-square test, Student’s t-test, Pearson’s correlation, the odds ratio and binary logistic regression were used. Results: The rate of low self-esteem was 33.8% in the adolescents; 27.8% of the adolescents presented some degree of BD, with severe BD in 5.8%. A significant low negative correlation was found between self-esteem and BD in all the adolescents. In the Odds Ratio analysis, it was observed that the odds of having low self-esteem increased in adolescents with BD as compared to adolescents without BD, being 3.85 times higher in females (CI 95%, 2.12–6.99), 2.83 times higher in males (CI 95%, 1.22–6.58), 5.79 times higher in adolescents attending public schools (CI 95% 2.06–16.26), and 2.96 times higher in adolescents attending private schools (CI 95%, 1.79–4.88). Conclusions: Low self-esteem affected one-third of the adolescents, both male and female. BD and education in public schools are predictor variables of low self-esteem in adolescents.

Factors of body dissatisfaction among lebanese adolescents: the indirect effect of self-esteem between mental health and body dissatisfaction

“…Consistent with earlier scholarly studies, some found similar results among adolescents [ 32 – 34 , 70 ]. Macêdo Uchôa et al studied 1,011 Brazilian students and concluded that adolescents with BD had 5.79 times lower self-esteem in comparisons to adolescents without BD attending public schools (CI 95% 2.06–16.26) and 2.96 times higher in adolescents attending private schools (CI 95%, 1.79–4.88) [ 33 ]. Furthermore, a longitudinal study that followed 440 children for five years, after controlling for confounders, showed BD is a risk factor for depressive mood and low self-esteem in both girls and boys but in different phases of adolescence [ 32 ].…”

“…It integrated different factors and their association with BD among a single ethnic group of older adolescents. The majority of studies were done on young adults [ 5 , 16 , 73 , 76 ] while others were done on the entire adolescent period (10–19 years old) [ 5 , 13 ] or early adolescence [ 26 , 81 ], few studies were done on older adolescents [ 25 , 33 , 70 ]. The third contribution was the use of BD subscale of EDI-2, as the majority of studies used the stunkard figure rating scale silhouette [ 10 , 16 , 26 , 73 ] which the arrangement of figure may cause reporting bias toward thinner Fig.…”

Multidimensional background examination of young underweight Japanese women: focusing on their dieting experiences

“…Adolescents and young adults internalize physically beautiful body shapes. If internalization is unsuccessful, dissatisfaction with their bodies and the constant search for it may result in risky behaviors, that may lead to the development of eating disorders (62). Even if the development of a mental disorder, such as an eating disorder, does not occur, the strength of the ideal of thinness is significantly positively correlated with depressive tendencies, anxiety, and low self-esteem (63).…”

Insatisfacción corporal, autoestima, sintomatología depresiva y estado nutricional en adolescentes

“…La insatisfacción corporal, definida como la percepción negativa sobre la imagen corporal, es cada vez más frecuente en nuestra sociedad, se ha reportado una prevalencia en adolescentes de entre un 30-40%, la cual puede variar según el género y la población estudiada 9 . La insatisfacción corporal cobra importancia en la adolescencia, por su relación con la baja autoestima, la depresión y trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCA) 8,10 .…”