title: Reciprocal relations between body satisfaction and self-esteem: A large 13-year prospective study of adolescents.
abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that body satisfaction and self-esteem are highly correlated in adolescence, but reasons are poorly understood. We tested three explanations: (i) the two constructs are actually one; (ii) the correlation is explained by a third factor; (iii) there are prospective relationships between body satisfaction and self-esteem. A population based sample of Norwegian adolescents (n = 3251) was examined four times over a 13-year period. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that body satisfaction and self-esteem were separate constructs and the correlation between them was not attenuated when adjusting for 3rd variables. Autoregressive cross-lagged analysis showed reciprocal relations between body satisfaction and self-esteem. The prospective relationship between body satisfaction during adolescence and self-esteem in late adolescence and emerging adulthood was stronger than at later stages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. Electronic address: lars.wichstrom@svt.ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wichstrøm
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway; Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Norway.
authors.forename: Tilmann
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: von Soest
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescent; Body satisfaction; Prospective; Reciprocal; Self-esteem