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Adolescent Body Image Distortion: A Consideration of Immigrant Generational Status, Immigrant Concentration, Sex and Body Dissatisfaction

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Immigrant adolescents represent a significant and growing proportion of the population in the United States. Yet, little is known about their experiences of body image distortion. This is particularly concerning given that body image distortion has been identified as a significant and modifiable risk factor for a number of mental illnesses, including depression and eating disorders. This study uses multi-level modeling to examine the associations between immigrant generational status, neighborhood immigrant concentration, sex, body dissatisfaction and risk for body image distortion. Data come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and includes 10,962 11–19 year olds (49.6 % female). First generation immigrant females were significantly more likely than 3rd generation-or-later adolescents to experience underweight body image distortion. There was no association between neighborhood immigrant concentration and risk for body image distortion. Body dissatisfaction was associated with greater risk for underweight and overweight body image distortion, with the magnitude of underweight distortion risk significantly greater among 1st generation immigrants. Interventions that encourage the development of a healthy body image have the potential to reduce the onset and duration of body image distortion among immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, MIP 201A, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Melissa Kimber, Katholiki Georgiades, Jennifer Couturier & Susan M. Jack

  2. Offord Centre for Child Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Melissa Kimber, Katholiki Georgiades, Jennifer Couturier, Susan M. Jack & Olive Wahoush

  3. Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Jennifer Couturier

  4. School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Susan M. Jack & Olive Wahoush

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  1. Melissa Kimber
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  2. Katholiki Georgiades
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  5. Olive Wahoush
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Correspondence to Melissa Kimber.

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Author Contributions

M.K. conceived of the study, conducted the statistical analysis and interpretation of the results and drafted the manuscript. This manuscript constitutes one of four empirical papers included in M.K.’s Ph.D. thesis. K.G., J.C., S.J. and O.W. serve as M.K.’s Ph.D. thesis Supervisory Committee Members and contributed to the interpretation of the results and to revising the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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None of the authors of this study have any conflicts of interest to declare.

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Kimber, M., Georgiades, K., Couturier, J. et al. Adolescent Body Image Distortion: A Consideration of Immigrant Generational Status, Immigrant Concentration, Sex and Body Dissatisfaction. J Youth Adolescence 44, 2154–2171 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0329-6

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