Longitudinal assessment of the relationship between physical self-concept and health-related behavior and emotion in adolescent girls

This study investigated the changes in and the relationships among body mass index (BMI), global self-esteem, physical self-perceptions, social physique anxiety (SPA), physical activity, and dietary restraint in adolescent females over a 24-month period. Participants (N = 501) completed annual assessments in grade 9, 10, and 11. The results showed moderate covariance stability in all variables. There were several significant time effects (group mean change), with small increases in BMI, moderate decreases in physical activity, and very small changes over time in SPA and physical self-perceptions. Longitudinal analyses indicated that specific physical self-perceptions were important predictors of physical activity, dietary restraint and SPA; however, most of the variance was explained by previous year values. Evidence of bidirectional effects revealed that specific self-perceptions impact specific behaviors and SPA more so than the impact of behavior/emotion on self-perceptions. These results highlight the importance of understanding the physical self and its links to health-related behaviors and emotion in adolescents.