The relationship among self-objectification, physical exercise and body image disturbance among female college students / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the relationship among self-objectification, physical exercise and body image disturbance among female college students, in order to provide a theoretical reference for preventing the occurrence of body image disturbance.@*Methods@#Convenient sampling was used to select 2 201 female college students from 4 universities, including Shandong University of Science and Technology, Shandong University of Technology, Ocean University of China and Changchun University, to participate in this study. The students were required to complete Body Image disturbance Questionnaire for Teenagers, Self-Objectification Questionarie and Physical Activity Rating Scale.@*Results@#The detection rate of body image disturbance of female college students was 28.7%, which score in the senior year was significantly lower than that of other grades, the students with non-romantic experiences were significantly lower than those with romantic experiences. The detection rate of body shape disturbance was 41.4%, and the score in the senior year was significantly lower than that of other grades, those with non-romantic experiences were significantly lower than those with romantic experiences. Gender disturbance was found with the rate of 13.1%, and the score in the senior year was significantly lower than that of the first grade and the second grade. The rate of disturbances of sex organs was 4.3% and the rate of facial disturbance was 19.6%. Female college students have self-objectification. Self-objectification had a significant positive predictive effect on body image disturbance(β=0.37,P<0.01); self-objectification and physical exercise interaction accounted for 2.8 percent of the variation in body image disturbance; the difference in regression coefficients was significant(β=-0.20,P<0.01); self-objectification had a significant predictive effect on body image disturbance when the amount of exercise was low(t=11.88, P<0.01); the effect of self-objectification on body image disturbance was not significant when the exercise was high(t=1.87, P>0.05).@*Conclusion@#The process of female college students' self-objectification being affected by body image disturbance is mediated by physical exercise.