Body Image: Impact on Academic Self-­‐Efficacy in Adolescents Alaina NesbiJ, M.S Ed.S. & Jocelyn H. Newton Ph.D., NCSP University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Design Abstract Body image is a frequent and widespread concern that impacts both
male and female adolescents. Negative body image can have an
adverse effect on a student’s school experience, but the impact to
their academic self-efficacy is not clear. This study will examine how
adolescent body image impacts student academic self-efficacy.
Furthermore, this presentation will provide school psychologists
essential information in order to positively impact this area of
adolescent mental health.
Literature Review •  Adolescence is an important time for the provision of mental health
services. Previous research indicates that adolescents have a more
difficult time coping with and controlling their emotions when
compared to adults (Blakemore & Mills, 2014), which may make
them easily influenced by the media.
•  Students with higher levels of body disturbance and eating disorder
scores also had higher levels of academic interference and lower
GPA’s (Yanover & Kevin, 2008).
•  Previous research highlights the connection between adolescent
girls being negatively affected by idealized body images
popularized by the media.
•  Adolescent girls were more likely to be disengaged from school
when they reported a negative body image (Murphy, 2011).
•  Yamamiya (2005) found that women who were shown thin-andbeautiful media images were more likely to be dissatisfied with
their own bodies in as little as five minutes of exposure.
•  Academic self-efficacy is a strong predictor of academic success
and other school behaviors as well as future success (Putwain,
Sander, & Larkin, 2011).
•  Academic self-efficacy gives us a better understanding of how
students feel about their school efficacy, rather than just looking at
their performance (i.e., GPA, standardized scores, etc.)
•  Recent research indicates that the prevalence of disordered eating
is rising among adolescent males (Allen, Byrne, Oddy, & Crosby
2013), therefore implicating the importance of examining this
population.
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Discussion •  Students voluntarily completed Bandura’s Scale of Academic SelfEfficacy to give insight to their level of perceived self-efficacy in
specific subject areas.
•  Students voluntarily completed the Multidimensional Body-Self
Relations Questionnaire to provide the researcher with their level
of either positive or negative body image.
•  A simple t-test was used to compare the independent variable
(student body image) to the dependent variable (academic selfefficacy) in specific subject areas.
Results •  373 male and female high school students were surveyed from a
suburban high school population. 303 returned the survey for a
participation rate of 81.23%.
•  50.4% of the participants were male, while 49.6% of the
participants were female.
Body Image & Self-­‐Efficacy 9 8 8.07 8.00 7.51 6.84 7 6.37 5.76 6 5 High Body Image 4 Low Body Image 3 2 Low Body Image had a significant impact on students’ academic selfefficacy in the specific areas of Foreign Language and English.
Both English and Foreign Language require abstract thinking, while
Math is more logical.
Body Image has a significant impact on student’s confidence toward
their academics. This can be a key area to target for mental health
intervention.
The school environment creates an opportunity for continuous support.
The information gathered from this presentation will benefit school
psychologists and their ability to provide mental health services and
promote the acceptance of a healthy body image in order to improve
overall student success.
References Allen, K., Byrne, S., Oddy, W., & Crosby, R. (2013) DSM-IV-TR and
DSM-5 Eating disorders in adolescents: prevalence, stability, and
psychosocial correlates in a population-based sample of male and
female adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 122(3):
720-732
Murphy, E. K. (2012). Female adolescent body image and success at
school: A grounded theory approach to creation of administrative
best practice. Dissertation Abstracts International, 72, 5010.
Putwain, D., Sander, P., & Larkin, D. (2012). Academic self-efficacy in
study-related skills and behaviours: Relations with learning-related
emotions and academic success. British Journal of Educational
Psychology, 83:633-650
Yamamiya, Y., Cash, T., Melnyk, S., Posavac, H., & Posavac, S. (2005)
Women’s exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: body image
effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction
interventions. Body Image, 2:74-80.
Yanover, Tovah & Thompson, J. Kevin (2008). Eating problems, body
image disturbances, and academic achievement: Preliminary
evaluation of the Eating and Body Image Disturbances Academic
Interference Scale. International Journal of Eating Disorders,
41(2):184-187.
Acknowledgements 1 0 Math Foreign Language English University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Graduate Studies Office for support
of this research project.