title: Body image disturbance and skin bleaching.
abstract: This study looks at body image disturbance among Jamaicans who bleach their skin. The hypothesis states that there is a positive relationship between skin bleaching and body image disturbance. The study used a convenience sample of 160 participants with a skin bleaching group (n = 80) and a non-bleaching comparison group (n = 80). The instrument included demographic questions, the body image disturbance questionnaire (BIDQ), and questions about skin bleaching. The results of a t-test revealed that the skin bleaching group (M = 1.5255, SD = 0.42169) was not significantly different from the non-bleaching group (M = 1.4938, SD = 0.74217) in terms of body image disturbance, t(158) = 0.333, p = .740. The participants who bleached did not suffer from body image disturbance. Self-reports revealed that they bleached to acquire beauty, attract a partner, elude the police, and market skin bleaching products. The practice was fashionable and popular and it made some participants feel good, while others were fans of a popular musical artiste who bleached his skin. The majority of participants bleached because of the perceived personal, social, and entrepreneurial benefits of the practice and not because they suffered emotional distress, anxiety, and functional impairment because of their skin colour. However, there was some level of BID among the minority of participants who argued that they bleached because they wanted to be pretty so they were emotionally distressed about there body image and experienced functional impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: Christopher A D
authors.initials: CAD
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Shua-Kym
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: McLean
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001504:Beauty; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing; D063505:Racism / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D062327:Skin Lightening Preparations / Q000191:economics; D012880:Skin Pigmentation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D062327:Skin Lightening Preparations
keywords: Body Image Disturbance; Jamaica; Self-Hate; Skin Bleaching