The relationship between adolescent self-perception of weight, mental health and social-protective factors.

With increasing importance placed on physical appearance in our culture, body image and weight worries may negatively affect the emotional well-being of adolescents. However, researchers disagree as to how an adolescent’s weight, their perception of their weight and their mental health status relate. The purpose of our study was to examine mental distress and social-protective factors in youths of varying weights and their perceptions of their weight.