Prediction of the Social Anxiety Model based on Ego strength With the Mediation of Body Image in Obese Girls Aged 12 to 14 Years

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to predict the social anxiety model based on ego strength mediated by body image in obese and overweight female adolescents. Method: The study was descriptive and correlational according to the data collection method. The statistical population consisted of all female overweight and obese students with high body mass index aged 12 to 14 years in Tehran in 2020. Among them, 200 students were selected as the samples using the multi-stage sampling method. The tools and questionnaires, including Conner's Social Phobia Inventory (Conner, 2000), body mass index questionnaire (Cash, 1977), and the Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strength (Markstrom et al., 1997) were used in the present study. Data were analyzed using a multivariate regression statistical model, path analysis, and finally, structural equation modeling. Results: The results indicated that obesity and overweight caused social anxiety in adolescent girls, and ego strength explained 48% of changes in social anxiety and had a negative and significant relationship with social anxiety (P=0.05) but the prediction increased to 60% with the mediation of body image. Conclusion: Obesity caused mental problems in addition to physical problems; hence, attention and treatment of mental problems are important in addition to physical problems of obesity in girls on the verge of adolescence.