Investigating bidirectional relationships between body appreciation and social anxiety in women: A longitudinal study

Previous research suggests that body appreciation and social anxiety are likely intertwined, such that a more accepting and respectful orientation toward one's body may attenuate fears of negative evaluation in socially salient contexts. However, existing relationships reported have been cross-sectional in nature, meaning that the temporal order of this relationship remains poorly understood. This study aimed to examine prospective, bidirectional associations between body appreciation and social anxiety in 1760 adult women (M = 34.02 years, SD = 9.34). Participants completed self-report measures of body appreciation and social anxiety at baseline (T1) and at a 3-month follow-up (T2). Cross-lagged panel models were estimated to assess bidirectional association, controlling for general anxiety symptoms. A significant unidirectional association was observed, such that higher body appreciation at T1 predicted lower social anxiety at T2, although the effect size was small. T1 social anxiety did not predict T2 body appreciation. These findings extend cross-sectional research by providing prospective evidence that body appreciation may play a modest role in influencing social anxiety symptoms over time, but not vice versa.