title: The relationship between stress and body satisfaction in female and male adolescents.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship between stress and body satisfaction in adolescence. A sample consisting of 515 adolescents aged 12-16 years completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing general and specific aspects of adolescent stress, body satisfaction and the psychological constructs of self-esteem, depressive symptoms and body importance. Results revealed a significant association between higher body dissatisfaction and higher ratings of peer stress, lower self-esteem and greater body importance for female and male adolescents. These findings suggest that adolescent stress relates to satisfaction with the body and that this stress is specifically focused on the peer environment for both genders during adolescence. This may have implications for intervention programmes aimed at improving body satisfaction, suggesting that the inclusion of stress management training in these programmes could specifically focus on difficulties within the peer domain.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Byrne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: adolescence; body image; self-esteem; stress appraisal