Longitudinal relationship between experience of sexual harassment and 2-year body image and weight outcomes in adolescence: mediation through self-objectification and psychological distress.
Eat Weight Disord
; 27(8): 3095-3108, 2022 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35834106
BACKGROUND: The current study investigated the experience of sexual harassment as a risk factor for weight gain and weight/shape concerns in a community sample of adolescents, with potential mediating factors self-objectification and psychological distress. METHOD: 1034 Australian adolescents (aged 11 to 19 years) from the EveryBODY longitudinal study of disordered eating pathology participated. Data were collected through online surveys annually for 3 years. Participants completed self-report measures of demographics, sexual harassment, psychological distress, self-objectification, weight/shape concerns and BMI percentile. RESULTS: A parallel mediation model adjusting for baseline scores found no direct effect between baseline experiences of sexual harassment and change in BMI percentile or weight/shape concern after 2 years. Experiences of sexual harassment significantly increased self-objectification scores after 1 year in female adolescents. Subsequently, higher self-objectification significantly increased the risk of greater weight/shape concern after 1 year in female adolescents. However, no significant mediating relationship was found in the relationship between sexual harassment and weight/shape concern or BMI percentile for either gender. Psychological distress was found to be a clear risk factor for weight/shape concern in both genders after 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Intervention programmes in schools should focus on developing policies to reduce sexual harassment, self-objectification and distress in adolescents. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, longitudinal multiple time series without intervention.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sexual Harassment
/
Psychological Distress
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Journal:
Eat Weight Disord
Journal subject:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
/
METABOLISMO
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia
Country of publication:
Germany