Original article
A cascade of rejection and appearance preoccupation: Adolescents’ body dysmorphic symptoms and appearance rejection sensitivity over 4 years
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck,
Julia Rudolph,
Juliane Pariz,
Corresponding Author
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Correspondence should be addressed to Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Parklands Dr, G40_7.86, Southport QLD 4222, Australia (email: [email protected]).
Search for more papers by this authorJulia Rudolph
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorJuliane Pariz
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this author
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck,
Julia Rudolph,
Juliane Pariz,
Corresponding Author
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Correspondence should be addressed to Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Parklands Dr, G40_7.86, Southport QLD 4222, Australia (email: [email protected]).
Search for more papers by this authorJulia Rudolph
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorJuliane Pariz
School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Adolescence is a high-risk period for body image disturbance and appearance concerns. In a cascade model, we examined interrelations of body dysmorphic symptoms (BDS) with appearance rejection sensitivity (ARS) and tested gender moderation. Participants were 397 Australian adolescents (T1 Mage = 11.7, SD = 0.91; 56% girls) who completed six surveys over 4 years. In a random-intercept cross-lag model, two (of five possible) paths showed ARS predicted higher subsequent BDS, and three (of five possible) paths showed BDS predicted higher subsequent ARS. Girls reported more BDS and ARS than boys, and random intercepts of BDS and ARS were correlated with the correlation stronger in girls than boys. Cross-lag BDD-ARS associations over the six waves were not significantly moderated by gender. Overall, girls are at higher risk of appearance concerns than boys, but BDD-ARS cascade effects do not differ between girls and boys.
Conflicts of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Open Research
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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