The role of scar origin in shaping men's body image.
Men generally have a more positive body image than women. However, the extent to which scars negatively influence men's body image is uncertain. The aim of the current study was to assess body image in men with and without scars while taking scar origin into account (nonsuicidal self-harming injuries [NSSI] vs. accidents or surgery). One hundred and nine men (n = 19 with NSSI) and 185 women (n = 96 with NSSI) filled in multidimensional body image questionnaires. Results indicate that on most clinical subscales women had a significantly more negative body image compared with men. However, within a subsample whose scars resulted from NSSI, gender differences vanished. Among men, scar origin was significantly associated with negative body image after partialling out scar characteristics, age, and borderline symptomatology. The visibility of scars was not associated with more severe body image disturbances. The results of our study indicate that self-inflicted scars adversely affect body image. Although women generally reported having a more negative body image, disturbances in body image should not be neglected among men, especially in those who have self-inflicted scars.
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany dyer@uni-mannheim.de.
Anne
A
Dyer
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Lennart
L
Mayer-Eckhard
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Andrew J
AJ
White
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Georg W
GW
Alpers
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
body image; gender; nonsuicidal self-harming injuries; scars