Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 23;22(1):302.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-022-03373-4.

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

Sara Al-Musharaf  1 , Radoslaw Rogoza  2   3 , Mariam Mhanna  4 , Michel Soufia  4 , Sahar Obeid  5 , Souheil Hallit  6   7   8
Affiliations

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

Sara Al-Musharaf et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Body dissatisfaction (BD) rates are alarmingly high, especially among adolescents, thus. Having a better understanding of correlates associated with BD seems to be an important issue in this developmental context. Furthermore, as adolescence is an essential time in the development of self-perception and self-esteem the current study assesses factors associated with BD among Lebanese adolescents and evaluates the indirect effect of self-esteem between depression/anxiety/stress and BD.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among 555 Lebanese adolescents, ages 15-18, who completed an online survey incorporating BD, socioeconomic status, weight and height, physical activity index, Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, Beirut Distress Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire.

Results: The results of a stepwise linear regression, taking the body dissatisfaction score as the dependent variable, showed that higher BMI (B = 0.47), feeling pressured by media/TV to lose weight (Beta = 2.80), higher depression (Beta = 0.39), exercising to lose weight (Beta = 1.84) and following a diet to lose weight (Beta = 1.58) were significantly associated with more body dissatisfaction, whereas higher self-esteem (Beta=-0.11) and more psychological distress (Beta=-0.21) were significantly associated with less body dissatisfaction. Self-esteem played an indirect role in the associations between anxiety and body dissatisfaction and stress and body dissatisfaction.

Conclusions: BD is common among young Lebanese adolescents. Treating adolescents with low self-esteem and psychological issues is crucial in preventing anticipated BD and future eating disorders.

Keywords: Adolescents; Body dissatisfaction; Depression; Lebanon; Self-esteem.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Relation between anxiety and self-esteem; b Relation between self-esteem and body dissatisfaction; c total effect of anxiety on body dissatisfaction; (c’) direct effect of anxiety on body dissatisfaction. Numbers are displayed as regression coefficients (standard error). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Relation between stress and self-esteem; b Relation between self-esteem and body dissatisfaction; c total effect of stress on body dissatisfaction; c’ direct effect of stress on body dissatisfaction. Numbers are displayed as regression coefficients (standard error). **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Grogan S. Body image and health: Contemporary perspectives. J Health Psychol. 2006;11(4):523–530. doi: 10.1177/1359105306065013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rohde P, Stice E, Marti CN. Development and predictive effects of eating disorder risk factors during adolescence: Implications for prevention efforts. Int J Eat Disord. 2015;48(2):187–198. doi: 10.1002/eat.22270. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Voelker DK, Reel JJ, Greenleaf C. Weight status and body image perceptions in adolescents: current perspectives. Adolesc Health Med Therapeut. 2015;6:149. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fitzsimmons-Craft EE, et al. Screening for eating disorders on college campuses: A review of the recent literature. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2019;21(10):1–17. doi: 10.1007/s11920-019-1093-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alharballeh S, Dodeen H. Prevalence of body image dissatisfaction among youth in the United Arab Emirates: gender, age, and body mass index differences. Curr Psychol. 2021:1–10. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources