School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Department of Business Administration, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Front Public Health. 2022 Jul 22;10:890751. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.890751. eCollection 2022.
Self-image reflects overall self-acceptance in developing adolescents. Using a representative cohort of Taiwanese youth, this study aims to explore the relationship between weight status, pubertal timing, athletic competence, and adolescent self-image.
Data come from the Taiwan Youth Project that comprised a longitudinal cohort of adolescents ( = 2690, 51% males, M = 13.3 ± 0.5 years) surveyed annually from seventh grade. Self-image was measured by perceived satisfaction with appearance and physique. Weight status was proxied by self-reported body mass index (BMI; kg/m). Pubertal timing was defined using the Pubertal Developmental Scale, which mainly measured physical changes in puberty. Athletic competence was assessed by experiences with participation in competitive sports and self-perceived talent for sports. Linear regression analysis was applied to test for an association between BMI and self-image. In order to test for mediating roles of pubertal timing and athletic competence, Hayes' PROCESS macro on SPSS was conducted applying 5,000 bootstrap resamples with 95% confidence intervals of the indirect effect.
BMI was inversely associated with self-image in both males (β = -0.074, [-0.095, -0.053]) and females (β = -0.095, [-0.122, -0.069]). The boot-strapped 95% confidence intervals indicated statistically significant mediating effects of pubertal timing (β = -0.008, [-0.015, -0.001]) and athletic competence (β = -0.006, [-0.011, -0.002]) in the link between BMI and self-image in females, whilst only athletic competence mediated this association (β = -0.006, [-0.009, -0.002]) in males. Moreover, BMI at baseline were also associated with long-term self-image in males (β = -0.037, [-0.057, -0.017]) and females (β = 0.132, [0.073, 0.190]).
Understanding the mediating factors may help enhance adolescents' self-image by providing guidance on healthy weight and physical activity behaviors according to different stages of pubertal progression.
自我形象反映了青少年整体的自我接纳程度。本研究使用具有代表性的台湾青少年队列，旨在探讨体重状况、青春期发育时间、运动能力与青少年自我形象之间的关系。
数据来自台湾青少年项目，该项目包含一个纵向青少年队列（n=2690，男生占 51%，M=13.3±0.5 岁），每年从七年级开始进行调查。自我形象通过对外观和体型的满意度来衡量。体重状况通过自我报告的体重指数（BMI；kg/m）来表示。青春期发育时间使用青春期发育量表来定义，该量表主要测量青春期的身体变化。运动能力通过参与竞技体育的经历和自我感知的运动天赋来评估。采用线性回归分析来检验 BMI 与自我形象之间的关系。为了检验青春期发育时间和运动能力的中介作用，采用 SPSS 的 Hayes' PROCESS 宏程序，应用 5000 次 bootstrap 重采样和 95%置信区间的间接效应。
在男性（β=-0.074，[-0.095，-0.053]）和女性（β=-0.095，[-0.122，-0.069]）中，BMI 与自我形象呈负相关。bootstrap 95%置信区间表明，在女性中，青春期发育时间（β=-0.008，[-0.015，-0.001]）和运动能力（β=-0.006，[-0.011，-0.002]）对 BMI 与自我形象之间的关系具有统计学显著的中介作用，而在男性中，只有运动能力（β=-0.006，[-0.009，-0.002]）起中介作用。此外，BMI 基线水平也与男性（β=-0.037，[-0.057，-0.017]）和女性（β=0.132，[0.073，0.190]）的长期自我形象相关。
了解中介因素可以帮助根据青春期发育的不同阶段，通过提供关于健康体重和身体活动行为的指导，来提高青少年的自我形象。
