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Clinically significant body dissatisfaction: prevalence and association with depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls

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Abstract

Body dissatisfaction is distressing and a risk factor for adverse consequences including eating disorders. However, data pertaining to the prevalence of body dissatisfaction in adolescence, a key period for its emergence, are lacking. This is a substantial barrier to tailored assessment and early intervention. This study addresses this gap and provides the prevalence of body dissatisfaction and associations with depressive symptoms and body change strategies. Adolescent boys (n = 367; Mage = 12.8, SD = 0.7) and girls (n = 368; Mage = 12.7, SD = 0.7) completed measures of body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms with established cut-off levels. They also completed measures of dietary restraint and strategies to increase muscle size. Of boys and girls, 37.9% and 20.7%, respectively experienced moderate, and 6.8% and 19.6% experienced clinically significant body dissatisfaction, with higher rates among girls than boys and among adolescents aged 13 and 14 than aged 12. More than one-quarter of boys (26.70%) and one-third of girls (33.15%) reported subthreshold depressive symptoms or possible, probable or major depressive episodes. Girls revealed a higher prevalence of possible-, probable-, or major depressive episode than boys. Relative to those with no or low body dissatisfaction, adolescents with clinically significant body dissatisfaction were 24 times more likely to also report possible-, probable-, or major depressive episodes. Among boys and girls, clinically significant body dissatisfaction was associated with higher levels of dietary restraint and engagement in strategies to increase muscle size. Greater attention to identification and early intervention for body dissatisfaction is needed, especially for girls.

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Data supporting the results in this study can be provided upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant under Grant [DP170100709].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Bouverie Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 3056, Australia

    Siân A. McLean, Hannah K. Jarman, Chloe S. Gordon & Susan J. Paxton

  2. APPEAR, Department of Applied Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, USA

    Rachel F. Rodgers

  3. Department of Psychiatric Emergency and Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, CHRU, Montpellier, France

    Rachel F. Rodgers

  4. Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Amy Slater

  5. ACU Engagement, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

    Chloe S. Gordon

Authors
  1. Siân A. McLean
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  2. Rachel F. Rodgers
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  3. Amy Slater
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  4. Hannah K. Jarman
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  5. Chloe S. Gordon
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  6. Susan J. Paxton
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Contributions

Study conception and design were performed by SMcL. Material preparation and data collection were performed by HJ and CG. Data analysis was performed by SMcL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SMcL and all authors reviewed and edited previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Siân A. McLean.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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McLean, S.A., Rodgers, R.F., Slater, A. et al. Clinically significant body dissatisfaction: prevalence and association with depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31, 1921–1932 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01824-4

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