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Trends in the perceived body size of adolescent males and females in Scotland, 1990–2014 : changing associations with mental well-being

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Whitehead_2017_Trends_in_Scottish_IJPH_CC.pdf (1.096Mb)
Date
01/2018
Author
Whitehead, Ross David
Cosma, Alina Paula
Cecil, Joanne Elizabeth
Currie, Candace Evelyn
Currie, Dorothy Bruce
Neville, Fergus Gilmour
Inchley, Joanna Catherine
Keywords
Body image
Body size perception
Overweight
Underweight
Adolescents
Mental well-being
BF Psychology
RA Public aspects of medicine
RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
3rd-DAS
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Abstract
Objectives: This paper explores trends in Scottish adolescents’ body size perceptions and associated mental well-being outcomes. Methods: Data were collected on Scottish 11, 13 and 15-year olds by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study between 1990 and 2014 (n=42,312). Logistic regression was used to examine changes in the prevalence of over- and underweight perceptions. Ordinal and linear regression was used to examine changes in the association between body perception and mental well-being. Results: Little change was observed in over- or under-weight perceptions between 1990 and 2014. However, relative to those perceiving their body as ‘about right’, those perceiving themselves as overweight reported decreasing confidence (all groups), decreasing happiness (11- and 13-year old girls) and increasing psychological symptoms (all girls and 15 year-old boys). Perceived underweight is associated with poor well-being, especially in males, but we present little evidence that this is a recent phenomenon. Conclusions: We present evidence suggesting that the influence of body image on adolescent mental health is increasing over time. This may play a role in the recently observed worsening of mental well-being in Scottish adolescents.
Citation
Whitehead , R D , Cosma , A P , Cecil , J E , Currie , C E , Currie , D B , Neville , F G & Inchley , J C 2018 , ' Trends in the perceived body size of adolescent males and females in Scotland, 1990–2014 : changing associations with mental well-being ' , International Journal of Public Health , vol. 63 , no. 1 , pp. 69-80 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-017-0997-y
Publication
International Journal of Public Health
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-017-0997-y
ISSN
1661-8556
Type
Journal article
Rights
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11150

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