A preliminary study of body image and depression among adults during COVID-19: A moderation model.
Kamila Czepczor-Bernat, Adriana Modrzejewska, Justyna Modrzejewska and 1 others
PMID 35094826WHAT IT FOUND
Among adults with obesity during COVID-19, more negative feelings about the body and more depressive symptoms were linked to greater body dissatisfaction when quality of life related to body image was low or medium.
This was not seen in normal-weight adults.
Key findings
01The association between body image-related negative emotions or depression and body dissatisfaction differed by body image-related quality of life only among obese participants.
02Among obese adults, higher negative body-image emotions were linked to greater body dissatisfaction when body image-related quality of life was medium or low.
03Among obese adults, higher depression was linked to greater body dissatisfaction when body image-related quality of life was low, while no similar pattern was found among normal-weight adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that low body image-related quality of life causes body dissatisfaction or that improving quality of life will reduce it. All data were self-reported, including height and weight, so BMI and body dissatisfaction may be inaccurate. Participants were volunteers recruited through advertisements, so they may not represent all adults with obesity or normal body weight. The analysis included only adults with normal body weight or obesity; overweight and underweight adults were excluded, so it says nothing about those groups. The authors note that the sample size could be larger.
Declared interests
The authors received no external funding and declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these results as showing that improving body-image quality of life will reduce body dissatisfaction. The study is cross-sectional and self-reported, so it shows links at one time, not cause and effect.