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Influence of Body Dissatisfaction on the Self-Esteem of Brazilian Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study
Francisco Nataniel Macêdo Uchôa1,2, Natalia Macêdo Uchôa2, Thiago Medeiros da Costa Daniele3
1Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Background:
The present study investigated the influence of body dissatisfaction (BD) on the self-esteem of Brazilian adolescents.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1011 students at public and private schools in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. The body shape questionnaire and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale were applied. Chi-square test, Student's t-test, Pearson's correlation, the odds ratio and binary logistic regression were used.
Results:
The rate of low self-esteem was 33.8% in the adolescents; 27.8% of the adolescents presented some degree of BD, with severe BD in 5.8%. A significant low negative correlation was found between self-esteem and BD in all the adolescents. In the Odds Ratio analysis, it was observed that the odds of having low self-esteem increased in adolescents with BD as compared to adolescents without BD, being 3.85 times higher in females (CI 95%, 2.12-6.99), 2.83 times higher in males (CI 95%, 1.22-6.58), 5.79 times higher in adolescents attending public schools (CI 95% 2.06-16.26), and 2.96 times higher in adolescents attending private schools (CI 95%, 1.79-4.88).
Conclusions:
Low self-esteem affected one-third of the adolescents, both male and female. BD and education in public schools are predictor variables of low self-esteem in adolescents.
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