The stress of adolescence: The impact of self-perceived body development on adult health

Citation

Beulaygue, Isabelle-Christine (2015). The stress of adolescence: The impact of self-perceived body development on adult health.

Abstract

Extant research indicates that early and mid adolescence are times of notable pubertal changes, which are accompanied by rapid physical, cognitive, and social transitions. For young women, these changes are particularly stressful. The female body changes extensively and is subject to societal ideals of beauty, thinness, and objectification. The current dissertation offers a novel bio-psycho-social perspective to the study of adolescent self-perceived development. Utilizing data from Waves, I III, and IV of Add Health, I constructed a composite index of self-perceived body development during adolescence and examined its impact on four health outcomes. After running several regression models, and testing for robustness, results from this study indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between self-perceived body development and adult health among women, but not among men. Girls with greater scores on the self-perceived body development index are more likely to report lower levels of self-rated health, are more likely to have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime, have higher scores on the CES-D depression scale, a greater probability of seeking counseling, and have higher BMIs during emerging adulthood. These results are an important contribution, as they indicate that self-perceived bodily changes during adolescence may represent risk factors for women’s adult health.

URL

http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1718419581?accountid=14244

Keyword(s)

Social psychology Women's studies Individual & family studies Social structure Social sciences Psychology Adolescence Adult health Body development Self-perceptions Stress Women

Reference Type

Thesis/Dissertation

Book Title

Sociology (Arts and Sciences)

Author(s)

Beulaygue, Isabelle-Christine

Series Author(s)

French, Michael T.

Year Published

2015

Volume Number

3719931

Pages

232

Publisher

University of Miami

City of Publication

Ann Arbor

ISSN/ISBN

9781339006093

DOI

9781339006093

Reference ID

8966