An investigation of relationships between body compassion, social physique anxiety and physical appearance perfectionism in young people from Iran.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that physical appearance perfectionism could play an important role in social physique anxiety; however, the moderating role of body compassion has not been studied. The current study aims to explore the moderating role of body compassion in the relationship between physical appearance perfectionism and social physique anxiety in undergraduate students. METHODS: A sample of 418 undergraduates (n = 418; 217 female and 201 males) from three universities in Tehran, Iran completed online questionnaires measuring physical appearance perfectionism, body compassion and social physique anxiety. RESULTS: The results of structural equation modeling showed that physical appearance perfectionism (ß = 0.68, p < 0.001) positively predicted the social physique anxiety and body compassion negatively predicted (ß = - .56, p < 0.001) the social physique anxiety in undergraduate students. A multi-group analysis showed that body compassion acted as a moderator between physical appearance perfectionism and social physique anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that individuals with greater levels of physical appearance perfectionism are more likely to experience social physique anxiety. Also, the results suggested that individuals who were at a high level of the body-compassion group experienced lower levels of social physical anxiety if they also had high levels of physical appearance perfectionism. Therefore, body-compassion acted as a protective role in the relationship between physical appearance perfectionism and social physique anxiety.

Anxiety over one's physical appearance in social situations is known as social physique anxiety. One of the variables that plays an important role social physique anxiety is physical appearance perfectionism. General perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, the symptoms of eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia and obsessive exercise are all linked to physical appearance perfectionism. The results of the current study showed individuals with high levels of physical appearance perfectionism are more likely to experience social physique anxiety. In the current study, we tested the moderating role of self-compassion in the relationship between physical appearance perfectionism and social physique anxiety. Body compassion is characterized by diffusion, common humanity, and acceptance of one's own body as opposed to being judgmental, critical, isolated, and over-identifying with unpleasant experiences and emotions. The findings showed in the group with high body- compassion, the relationship between physical appearance perfectionism and social physique anxiety was not significant, which means that body-compassion played a buffering role in this relationship.

Childhood obesity risk increases with increased screen time: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The role of screen time in promoting obesity among children has been reported in previous studies. However, the effects of different screen types and the dose-response association between screen time and obesity among children is not summarized yet. In the current meta-analysis we systematically summarized the association between obesity and screen time of different screen types in a dose-response analysis. METHODS: A systematic search from Scopus, PubMed and Embase electronic databases was performed. Studies that evaluated the association between screen time and obesity up to September 2021 were retrieved. We included 45 individual studies that were drawn from nine qualified studies into meta-analysis. RESULTS: The results of the two-class meta-analysis showed that those at the highest category of screen time were 1.2 times more likely to develop obesity [odds ratio (OR) = 1.21; confidence interval (CI) = 1.113, 1.317; I2 = 60.4%; P < 0.001). The results of subgrouping identified that setting, obesity status and age group were possible heterogeneity sources. No evidence of non-linear association between increased screen time and obesity risk among children was observed (P-nonlinearity = 0.310). CONCLUSION: In the current systematic review and meta-analysis we revealed a positive association between screen time and obesity among children without any evidence of non-linear association. Due to the cross-sectional design of included studies, we suggest further studies with longitudinal or interventional design to better elucidate the observed associations.

Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students.

Background: The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods: The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18-25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results: The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion: Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.