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Gender, Body Image, and Depressive Symptoms among Low‐Income African American Adolescents
Author(s) -
Grant Kathryn,
Lyons Aoife,
Landis Dana,
Cho Mi Hyon,
Scudiero Maddalena,
Reynolds Linda,
Murphy Julie,
Bryant Heather
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/0022-4537.00117
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychology , depressive symptoms , clinical psychology , low income , african american , developmental psychology , demography , psychiatry , anxiety , history , ethnology , socioeconomics , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
The present study tested for gender differences in depression and body image among a sample of 6th–8th grade low‐income African American adolescents. Gender differences were found, with adolescent girls more likely to report both depressive symptoms and poor body image. The most frequently endorsed body image concern for both boys and girls was the desire to lose weight, with approximately half of the girls in this sample reporting they would like to lose weight. Results of mediational analyses indicate that poor body image mediates the relation between gender and depression in this sample, suggesting that heightened rates of depression, among girls, are due to heightened rates of poor body image.