Predictors of Body Appreciation in Brazilian Girls Aged From Nine to 14 Years
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-4327e3429Keywords:
adolescent, body image, self-esteem, eating behavior, BrazilAbstract
Social pressure toward a certain body standard harms well-being and can lead to psychological distress in adolescent girls. This study investigated self-esteem, eating behavior, age, and body mass index as predictors of body appreciation in 222 Brazilian girls ( M = 11.60, SD = 1.63) who responded to the Body Appreciation Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Children’s Eating Attitudes Test. Self-esteem, body mass index and age accounted for 52% of the variance in body appreciation and self-esteem emerged as the strongest predictor in the hierarchical linear regression analysis. The greater the age and body mass index, the lower the body appreciation in the evaluated girls. Finally, girls who showed lower body appreciation had higher disordered eating attitudes. This study brings new findings about body appreciation in Brazilian girls, especially that body appreciation tends to decrease during the transition from childhood to adolescence.
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