The role of body image flexibility and gender in predicting social appearance anxiety in adolescents

The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive role of body image flexibility and gender on social appearance anxiety. The design of this study was correlational in nature. The participants included 702 high school students (351 female, 351 male) in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), The Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (BI-AAQ) and Demographic Information Form were used to collect the data. Within the scope of the study, confirmatory factor analysis of The Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire was conducted in a sample of adolescents. To ascertain whether the anxiety related to social appearance and body image flexibility varied based on gender, physical appearance appreciation, and participation in sports or exercise, the Independent Groups T-Test was employed as a parametric test, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used as a non-parametric test for variables that failed to satisfy the assumption of variance homogeneity. Pearson Correlation was used to analyze the relationships between variables. Finally, Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was conducted to determine the role of body image flexibility and gender in predicting social appearance anxiety. The findings showed that body image flexibility and gender significantly predicted social appearance anxiety. These two variables together explained 41% of the total variance. In addition, body image flexibility was found to be a stronger predictor than gender. The results of the study were discussed in the related literature and suggestions were made for future research and applications.