title: Body Dissatisfaction and Mental Health Outcomes Among Korean College Students.
abstract: For many years, body dissatisfaction and mental health were thought of as Western phenomena and were studied mostly in Caucasian women. Recent studies, however, suggest that these issues are also present in men and in other ethnic groups. This study examined the association between body dissatisfaction and mental health outcomes, with personality traits and neuroticism playing possible predictive roles, using a Korean sample. A total of 545 college students, from five private universities in South Korea, completed assessment measures for depression, self-esteem, neuroticism, and body esteem scales. After controlling for covariates including body mass index and exercise time, body dissatisfaction was seen to play a mediating role between neuroticism and mental health outcomes. Differences between the sexes were also found in this relationship. For men, body dissatisfaction acted as a mediator between neuroticism and depression. For women, body dissatisfaction acted as a mediator between neuroticism and both depression and self-esteem.
authors.affiliation: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sukkyung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: College of Liberal Arts, Anyang University, Seoul, South Korea kyuleeshin@anyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Kyulee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire; body dissatisfaction; body image; depression; exercise; mental health; neuroticism; self-esteem