P36: The Study of Relationship of Self-Esteem, Social Anxiety and Fear of Body Image in Adolescents: The Role of Mediator Variables

During the last two decades, extensive researches have been done on body image in adolescents. Several psychological factors can affect fear or satisfaction of body image. The present study aims to investigate the role of predicting self-esteem about fear of body image in adolescents emphasizing social anxiety as a mediator variable. The present study is cross-sectional and correlational. The statistical population is the guidance and high school students in Shiraz in 2013-2014 that 180 students including 101 girls and 79 boys who were selected by cluster sampling. The age range of subjects was 12-18 years and the mean age was 15.4. The instruments used in this study were the fear of body image of Littleton et al, Rosenberg's self-esteem questionnaire and social anxiety scale for adolescents (SASA). Data were analyzed using correlation and regression. There is a significant relationship between body image and self-esteem (r=-0.405, P<0.01). The relationship between social anxiety and body image is significant (r=0.280, P<0.01).There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and social anxiety (r=-0.453, P<0.01). Hierarchical regression shows that the variable of social anxiety has a mediator role in the relationship between self-esteem and body image. This study shows the relationship between self-esteem and social anxiety with body image in adolescents. The relationships between the variables of the study indicate that social anxiety in the relationship between self-esteem and fear of body image has a mediating role. So, low self-esteem reduces self-worth and self-esteem, and also, increases social anxiety which increases the level of fear of body image. On the other hand, high self-esteem improves their positive evaluation and reduces social anxiety, which ultimately reduces the fear of body image.