Associations of body image with internalizing symptoms and bullying in adolescents.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the association between adolescents' body image and internalizing symptoms and bullying. Forty-four portuguese adolescents (19 boys and 25 girls, aged 12-16 years old) completed the Collins’ Child Figure Drawings, the Preoccupation with Body Appearance questionnaire, the Children’s Depression Inventory, the Preoccupation/Rumination questionnaire, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Self-report Behaviors during Bullying Episodes and the Florence Cyberbullying-Cybervictimization Scales. Higher preoccupation with body appearance was moderately associated (p<.05) with higher negative humor, negative selfesteem, preoccupation/rumination, fear of social negative evaluation, and victimization during bullying episodes. Higher dissatisfaction with body image (assessed by Collins’ Child Figure Drawings) was moderately associated (p<.05) with higher interpersonal problems, victimization during bullying episodes and cyberbullying victimization. These findings suggest that negative self-evaluation of body image may have major implications for adolescents' psychological wellbeing, and that it is important to determine whether there is a causal relationship.