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Exploring the differentiated relationship between appearance and fitness‐related social anxiety and the risk of eating disorders and depression in young adults
Author(s) -
AlcarazIbáñez Manuel,
Sicilia Álvaro,
Paterna Adrian
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12584
Subject(s) - psychology , anxiety , psychopathology , depression (economics) , eating disorders , clinical psychology , young adult , social anxiety , disordered eating , risk factor , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , economics , macroeconomics
Appearance‐related social anxiety has been identified as a relevant risk factor in the development of eating disorders (ED) and depression in young adults. However, less is known about the role that fitness‐related social anxiety may play on the emergence of these two psychopathological conditions. The present study aimed to examine whether appearance/fitness social anxiety may independently contribute to explaining the increased risk of ED and depressive symptoms in young adults. A total of 545 undergraduate students (46% women, M age = 21.36, SD age = 2.93) recruited in two Spanish public universities completed a self‐reported questionnaire. After controlling for self‐reported BMI and appearance‐related social anxiety, the results from the regression analyses revealed that fitness‐related social anxiety positively and significantly ( p < 0.05) contributed to explaining both the risk of ED (in women and men) and depressive symptoms (in women). The inclusion of the interaction term within the appearance/fitness‐related term positively contributed to explaining additional variance for both the risk of ED and depressive symptoms in men, but not in women. The regression models explained 48% (women) and 35% (men) of the ED risk and 25% (women) and 19% (men) of depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that not only appearance, but also fitness‐related social anxiety experiences may contribute to explaining the emergence of ED and depression in young adults.