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 

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Published

2024-03-09 — Updated on 2024-05-13

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