EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN BODY IMAGE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN CHILDREN

Abstract

This research is fueled by concern about the body image in children, specifically negative body image and its impact on their psychological wellbeing. Accordingly, the hypotheses set were “The negative body image among children will be related to decreased psychological well-being” and “Female children are more prone to the perception of negative body image as compared to male children”. For this purpose, 800 students, age 8-11, were approached in all the schools of Al-Murtaza Network; while 336 children participated after parental consent. Data was collected through administration of a figure rating scale developed by Collins (1991) and The Sterling’s Children Well-Being scale (SCWBS) whereas BMI was acquired from school records, data was computed through applying Pearson Product Moment correlation and t-test for statistical analysis. Results revealed high positive correlation among negative body image and psychological well-being. However, no gender differences were found on the basis of trends in negative body image.