Positive Body Image in Colombian Teenagers

Authors

  • Vanesa Góngora Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina/Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Martha Martínez Banfi Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad Simón Bolívar
  • Natalia Quiroz Molinares Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia
  • Sonia Mercado Departamento de Psicología, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
  • Moises Roberto Mebarak Departamento de Psicología, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia

Keywords:

Positive psychology, body appreciation, body mass index, eating disorders, social network.

Abstract

Evaluate the Positive Body Image (PBI) and their relationship with Body Appreciation, Male Body Attitude, eating disorders, Attitude towards physical Appearance, Mass Index (IMC) in Teenagers in Colombian Caribbean Coast. A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out, where the sample consisted of 300 young people between 13 and 19 years old. (M=16,44; SD= 1,82), 151 were women (50,3%) and 149 were men (49,7%). The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of the participants was 21,86 (SD= 3.65) which is in the normal range. All participants were students (high school and university) from Barranquilla. The higher Body Mass Index, is related with lower body appreciation, lower respect for the own body and lower resistance to the mass media. In addition to that, those teenagers who practice more physical activity reported higher Positive Body Image. Besides, a higher Positive Body Image, is related with lower eating disorders, and lower influence by social media. In all the dimensions analyzed, we can clearly appreciate the beneficial impact for the human being that this appreciation has, and the need to further investigate this variable of psychology in the Latin-American context to fill the gap that currently exist in research 

References

Andrew, R., Tiggemann, M., & Clark, L. (2016). Positive body image and young women's health: Implications for sun protection, cancer screening, weight loss and alcohol consumption behaviours. Journal of health psychology, 21(1), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105314520814

Atari M. (2016). Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 in Iran. Body image, 18, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.006

Augustus-Horvath, C. L., & Tylka, T. L. (2011). The acceptance model of intuitive eating: a comparison of women in emerging adulthood, early adulthood, and middle adulthood. Journal of counseling psychology, 58(1), 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022129

Bray, F., Ferlay, J., Soerjomataram, I., Siegel, R. L., Torre, L. A., & Jemal, A. (2018). Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 68(6), 394–424. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21492

Frisén, A., & Holmqvist, K. (2010). What characterizes early adolescents with a positive body image? A qualitative investigation of Swedish girls and boys. Body image, 7(3), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.04.001

Gillen M. M. (2015). Associations between positive body image and indicators of men's and women's mental and physical health. Body image, 13, 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.01.002

Góngora, V. C., Cruz Licea, V., Mebarak Chams, M. R., & Thornborrow, T. (2020). Assessing the measurement invariance of a Latin-American Spanish translation of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 in Mexican, Argentinean, and Colombian adolescents. Body image, 32, 180–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.01.004

Halliwell E. (2013). The impact of thin idealized media images on body satisfaction: does body appreciation protect women from negative effects? Body image, 10(4), 509–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.07.004

Halliwell E. (2015). Future directions for positive body image research. Body image, 14, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.03.003

Halliwell, E., Jarman, H., McNamara, A., Risdon, H., & Jankowski, G. (2015). Dissemination of evidence-based body image interventions: A pilot study into the effectiveness of using undergraduate students as interventionists in secondary schools. Body image, 14, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.02.002

Holmqvist, K., & Frisén, A. (2012). "I bet they aren't that perfect in reality:" Appearance ideals viewed from the perspective of adolescents with a positive body image. Body image, 9(3), 388–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.03.007

Iannantuono, A. C., & Tylka, T. L. (2012). Interpersonal and intrapersonal links to body appreciation in college women: an exploratory model. Body image, 9(2), 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.01.004

Ibáñez, M. A., Chiminazzo, J. G. C., Camacho, Á. S., & Fernandes, P. T. (2017). Examining the psychometric properties of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 in Brazilian adolescents. Psychology, Society & Education, 9(3), 505-515. 10.25115/psye.v9i3.1101

Kertechian, S., & Swami, V. (2017). An examination of the factor structure and sex invariance of a French translation of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 in university students. Body image, 21, 26–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.02.005

Llorente, E., Warren, C. S., de Eulate, L. P., & Gleaves, D. H. (2013). A Spanish version of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3): translation and psychometric evaluation. Journal of clinical psychology, 69(3), 240–251. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21944

Murawski, B., Elizathe, L., Custodio, J., & Rutsztein, G. (2015). Argentine validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3. Mexican Journal of Eating Disorders, 6, 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmta.2015.09.001.

Satinsky, S., Reece, M., Dennis, B., Sanders, S., & Bardzell, S. (2012). An assessment of body appreciation and its relationship to sexual function in women. Body image, 9(1), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2011.09.007

Schoenefeld, S. J., & Webb, J. B. (2013). Self-compassion and intuitive eating in college women: examining the contributions of distress tolerance and body image acceptance and action. Eating behaviors, 14(4), 493–496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.09.001

Swami, V., & Ng, S. K. (2015). Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 in university students in Hong Kong. Body image, 15, 68–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.06.004

Swami, V., García, A. A., & Barron, D. (2017). Factor structure and psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2). Body image, 22, 13–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.05.002

Swami, V., Ng, S. K., & Barron, D. (2016). Translation and psychometric evaluation of a Standard Chinese version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2. Body image, 18, 23–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.005

T.F. Cash (Ed.), Encyclopedia of body image and human appearance, Vol. 2, Academic Press, San Diego, CA (2012), pp. 657-663

T.F. Cash, L. Smolak (Eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd ed.), Guilford Press, New York (2011), pp. 56-64

Thompson, J. K., van den Berg, P., Roehrig, M., Guarda, A. S., & Heinberg, L. J. (2004). The sociocultural attitudes towards appearance scale-3 (SATAQ-3): development and validation. The International journal of eating disorders, 35(3), 293–304. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.10257

Tiggemann, M., & Pennington, B. (1990). The Development of Gender Differences in Body-Size Dissatisfaction. Australian Psychologist, 25(3), 306–313. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00050069008260025

Tiggemann M. (2015). Considerations of positive body image across various social identities and special populations. Body image, 14, 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.03.002

Tylka, T. L., & Kroon Van Diest, A. M. (2013). The Intuitive Eating Scale-2: item refinement and psychometric evaluation with college women and men. Journal of counseling psychology, 60(1), 137–153. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030893

Tylka, T. L. (2015). Positive body image’s relationships to physical health indices among college women and men. Manuscript in preparation.

Tylka, T. L., & Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2015a). What is and what is not positive body image? Conceptual foundations and construct definition. Body image, 14, 118–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.04.001

Tylka, T. L., & Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2015b). The Body Appreciation Scale-2: item refinement and psychometric evaluation. Body image, 12, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006

Wood-Barcalow, N. L., Tylka, T. L., & Augustus-Horvath, C. L. (2010). "But I Like My Body": Positive body image characteristics and a holistic model for young-adult women. Body image, 7(2), 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.01.001

Downloads

Published

2024-03-09 — Updated on 2024-05-13

Versions

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 1 (2024): Vol. 41 No 1 (2024): Enero - Abril 2024

Section

Artículos

License

The Editor and/or publisher submitting the current journal information, or article, hereby confirms: 1) the author’s participation in the work; 2) the author’s approval to be referred to as the author; and 3) the author’s acceptance to all the conditions included in the Copyright Assignment provision herein included. The author (hereinafter referred to as Assignor) hereby irrevocably transfers and assigns, at no cost, to the Revista Psicología del Caribe of the Psychology School at Universidad del Norte - ISSN: 2011-7485 - (hereinafter referred to as Assignee) all rights, titles and interests, including all copyrights in Colombia and throughout the World, related to the submitted article.

The Assignor acknowledges that he/she is the owner/creator and the article is original. The Assignor declares that the article had not, is not, or will not be submitted elsewhere for print or electronic publication. In such an event, the Editor of the Revista Psicología del Caribe should be notified, in writing, and his/her response is required prior to evaluating the submitted article.  The Assignor swears there is no impediment that prevents this Copyright Assignment. The Assignor consents that he/she may be held accountable for any copyright violations, plagiarism, or any other claim that may surge.

In consideration of this provision, the Assignee is authorized to copy, reprint, distribute, publish, and commercialize the submitted article through electronic, digital, of paper means. However, the Assignee is obligated to comply with the moral rights of the author, as established in the Act 23 of 1982, art. 30.

 

All articles published in Psicología desde el Caribe and its contents are under Creative Commons license CC BY. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0