Exploring Body Image and Mental Health Among Women

Background/Purpose:

Scholarship on body appreciation explores the ways in which individuals value and care for their bodies. Previous research has documented associations between positive body image and protective mental and physical health. Research, however, is limited particularly among diverse populations.  The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations between body appreciation and mental health among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of adult women using previously validated scales. Specifically, we hypothesized that women with greater body appreciation will report lower levels of depression and anxiety after controlling for body mass index (BMI), age, race, and socioeconomic status (SES).

 

Method: 

Participants were recruited through a social media website (www.reddit.com) to complete an online, cross-sectional survey related to body image and health.  We conducted purposeful sampling by posting the ad on race and ethnicity related subreddits (“bulletin boards” by topic/interest).  The data were collected in the summer of 2016.  Measures in this study include: Body Appreciation Scale-2, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure depression, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7).  We controlled for race, body mass index (BMI), age, and socioeconomic status. After conducting descriptive analyses, we ran linear regressions.

Results:

The final sample (N = 497) was racially diverse, with 39.8% White, 28.3%  Asian, 19.1% Black, and 22.3% Latina.  The mean age was 26.24 years (range = 18-56; SD = 6.15) and the mean BMI was 26.33 (SD = 7.33), which is considered “overweight” according to the CDC. Linear regression results indicated that body appreciation was significantly and inversely associated with depression (b = -3.68; p < .001) As body appreciation increased, PHQ-9 depression scores decreased.  Similarly, body appreciation was significantly and inversely associated with anxiety among this sample (b = -1.78; p < .001).  As body appreciation increased, GAD-7 anxiety scores decreased.

 

Implications:

This study supports the importance of the relationship between body image and mental health. The study contributes to existing scholarship by exploring positive body image, depression, and anxiety symptoms among a racially-diverse sample.  Body appreciation was inversely related to both depression and anxiety scores in this sample, suggesting that body image may be related to mental health among White, Asian, Black, and Latina populations. Incorporating screening tools to assess body image should be considered for practitioners working with women who experience depression and anxiety. Further, this research suggests that interventions aiming to improve body appreciation may decrease depression and anxiety scores.