BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN ADOLESCENTS FROM THE STATE PUBLIC NETWORK OF SALVADOR-BAHIA ¹

ABSTRACT.

Objective:

To analyze an association between dissatisfaction with body image and self - esteem of adolescents enrolled in the public elementary school system in Salvador - Bahia.

Methods:

Participated in this cross-sectional study 860 adolescents aged 10 to 19, of both sexes from the 7th to the 9th year, enrolled in twelve medium-sized schools of the public elementary school system in full shift, in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Self-esteem was assessed through the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and body image dissatisfaction by the Body Shape Questionnaire. Demographic and socioeconomic data, sexual maturation, anthropometric status, physical activity level and sedentary lifestyle were evaluated. The association between dissatisfaction with body image and self-esteem was analyzed by multinominal regression for polytomic variables using the statistical program SPSS Version 23.0.

Results:

Among the adolescents, 24.8% had moderate self-esteem and 27.3% had the lowest scores of this construct. Body image dissatisfaction was identified in 25.2% of the adolescents. The association analysis revealed that adolescents with body image dissatisfaction have 5.61 (95%ci 3.08-10.24) times greater chance of manifesting low self-esteem for females and 3.83 (95%ci 2.03-7.25) times for males. Still among girls, dissatisfaction with body image remained positively associated with moderate self-esteem after adjusting the model (OR: 2.31; 95%ci 1.21-4.41).

Conclusion:

It was concluded that the prevalence of low and moderate self-esteem was high, and dissatisfaction with body image influenced low self-esteem in both sexes and a moderate among girls.

Keywords:
Body image; self-esteem; adolescents