Social Appearance Anxiety and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scores in Young Physical Disabled Athletes

Abstract

Introduction: The social appearance anxiety is defined as tension and anxiety experienced by people when they are assessed by others in terms of their physical appearance and self-esteem is defined as feelings of one's personal self-worth, reflecting person's evaluation of his or her own worth. Aim: This study was conducted to investigate the differences in social appearance anxiety and self-esteem scores in physical disabled athletes and non-disabled athletes. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty-eight physical disabled athletes and 60 non-disabled athletes participated in the study. The Turkish versions of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale was used to assess the points associated with social appearance anxiety and self-esteem. Results: Disabled athletes had higher self-esteem and social appearance anxiety scores compared to non-disabled athletes. Also, disabled athletes having medal had decreased self-esteem and social appearance anxiety scores compared to disabled athletes not having medal. These results suggest that physical activity can improve mental health in especially successful athletes. Also, the self-esteem scores had positive correlation with the social appearance anxiety score in total sample, as well as in disabled athletes and non-disabled athletes. Conclusion: The higher self-esteem and social appearance anxiety scores in disabled athletes may be related to the higher depression, anxiety and psychological stress in athletes compared to non-athletes. These results suggest that physical activity can improve mental health in only top successful athletes.

The Effect of Social Appearance Anxiety on Psychological Well-Being: A Study on Women Doing Regular Pilates Activities

“…Most of the literature on body image, it is focused on testing how physical activity and sport are associated with more positive body image, or how sports and physical activity interventions can be used to improve body image 17 . When we look at the literature, there are many studies that deal with social appearance anxiety 26,27,28,29,8,30 and psychological well-being 31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39 with different variables in the context of sports. However, no study has been found in which the relationship between social appearance anxiety and psychological well-being is discussed together in the context of pilates.…”

Physical Appearance Anxiety and Social Relations

“…Similarly, it has a connection with social evasion, fear of negatively judged and pain among teenagers in the community (Dakanalis, Carra, Calogero, Zanetti, Volpato, Riva, Clerici, & Cipresso, 2015). On other conducted study, there was a higher level of scores among disabled athletes participant to self-confidence and social appearance anxiety dissimilar to non-abled athletes' participant (Demirel, 2019). Correspondingly, self-criticism was related to negatively judge since students with obesity had excessive level of self-criticism than the other students who are not obese (Khan & Naqvi, 2016).…”

Psychological Burnout in Elite Athletes with Disabilities: The Predictive Role of the Mood States and Mental Toughness

“…Also, it established that sport and exercises, in many forms, produce mood benefits in domains including a decrease in psychological distress, anxiety, fatigue, negative affect, depression, and an increase in the positive attitudes of well-being in disabled athletes (Shapiro, and Malone, 2016). In this line, Demirel (2019) showed that athletes with disabilities having medals had diminished scores of social appearance anxiety than the disabled athletes without a medal. These findings suggest that sports competence can further develop the mental health of successful athletes.…”