Predictors of changes in weight esteem among mainland Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal analysis.

Abstract

Weight and body image concerns are prevalent among adolescents across cultures and pose significant threats to well-being, yet there is a paucity of longitudinal research on samples living in non-Western and developing countries. This prospective study assessed the extent to which select sociocultural, psychological, and biological risk factors contributed to changes in weight esteem among adolescent girls and boys living in the People's Republic of China. Students (181 boys, 320 girls) from middle schools and high schools in Southwest China completed measures of demographics; weight esteem; thin female and lean, muscular male appearance ideals; positive and negative affect; and appearance-based social pressure, teasing, and comparison. Subsequently, weight esteem was reassessed 18 months later. Girls having stronger preferences for thin ideals, a high body mass index, and more negative affect at Time 1 were more likely to experience losses of weight esteem at follow-up. Among boys, high baseline levels of appearance pressure contributed to later reductions in weight esteem-an effect that was also moderated by age. For both sexes, appearance social comparisons also contributed to weight esteem changes in univariate analyses, albeit these effects were attenuated within multivariate prediction models. In sum, this study highlights how specific experiences implicated previously in research on body dissatisfaction in Western samples are also salient in understanding changes in weight esteem for adolescent girls and boys in rapidly developing China.

Mediating effects of body composition between physical activity and body esteem in Hong Kong adolescents: a structural equation modeling approach

“…Ideally, biological maturation which is closely related to physical activity among adolescents [2] should be investigated. Another study from Mainland China also showed declines in body esteem in boys during adolescence [4] such as relationships with parents which would mediate the association between body image and self-esteem [29] were also not investigated in this study. Causality between physical activity level and body esteem was not ascertained in this cross-sectional study.…”

Features of objectified body consciousness and sociocultural perspectives as predictors of eating and body image disturbances among young women and men in China

“…Young Chinese women also tend to score higher than young Chinese men do on conceptually-and empirically-related measures of appearance pressure, appearance comparisons, and negative affect (e.g. Chen & Jackson, 2009, 2012, factors that reliably predict (e.g. Chen, Gao, & Jackson, 2007;Jackson & Chen, 2008a, 2008b and increase risk for (Chen & Jackson, 2009;Jackson & Chen, 2008c, 2008d, 2014 weight and eating disturbances in among Chinese adolescent girls.…”

“…Chen & Jackson, 2009, 2012, factors that reliably predict (e.g. Chen, Gao, & Jackson, 2007;Jackson & Chen, 2008a, 2008b and increase risk for (Chen & Jackson, 2009;Jackson & Chen, 2008c, 2008d, 2014 weight and eating disturbances in among Chinese adolescent girls. Finally, directly relevant recent work has found university-age Chinese women who score higher on body surveillance and body shame are more willing to consider future cosmetic surgery than lower-scoring peers (Jackson & Chen, in press-b).…”

Attention and recognition biases associated with stature dissatisfaction among young men in China

“…Each item was rated on a 5-point scale from 0 (Not at all like me) to 4 (Very much like me), with total scores reflecting the average of summed responses and higher scores denoting increased dissatisfaction. The NPS-S is internally consistent (˛ = .88; Chen et al, 2006) and has good nine-month test-retest reliability (r = .78; Chen & Jackson, 2007) and construct validity (Chen et al, 2006;Chen & Jackson, 2009a, 2009bJackson & Chen, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c among adolescent and young adult samples. Its internal consistency coefficient was ˛ = .89 in this sample.…”

“…Demographic items assessed participant age, handedness, and history of neurological and/or psychiatric illness. Body mass index (BMI) was also calculated on the basis of selfreported height and weight which correlate highly with objective measures in Asian samples (Wada et al, 2005) and are less intrusive to obtain than experimenter-measured indices (Chen & Jackson, 2009a, 2009b. Negative Physical Self Scale -Stature Concerns subscale (NPS-S; Chen et al, 2006).…”