A Study On The Relationship Between Negative Body Image, Self-esteem And Interpersonal Distress Among Junior High School Student

Body image is an individual’s psychological picture of himself,including cognition,attitude and corresponding behavioral regulation of his physical physiology and psychological functions.It is an important aspect of self-development.Junior high school students are at a special age where their physical appearance changes drastically,and it is easier to pay close attention to their weight,body shape and appearance.A large number of studies have found that negative body image will have a negative impact on many aspects of adolescents,and the reduction of self-esteem and unsatisfactory interpersonal relationships are important manifestations.Based on previous research about adolescent body image,this study aimed to investigate the current situation of junior high school students’ body image,self-esteem and interpersonal distress,and used a combination of quantitative research and qualitative research to explore the relationship between body image,self-esteem and interpersonal relationship distress of junior high school students.Finally,we gave suggestions on shaping positive body image of adolescents based on the research results.In Study 1,900 subjects were randomly selected from two junior high school in Beijing and Shandong Province.We investigated the current developmental status of their body image,self-esteem and interpersonal distress,and then we explored the characteristics of each variable on demographic variables.On the basis of Study 1,in Study 2 we used quantitative analysis to explored the relationship between the three variables and tested the mediating effect of self-esteem.In Study 3,we randomly selected 10 junior high school students to conduct thematic interviews on body image,self-esteem and interpersonal distress,further verified the correlation between the three,mined other information in the interview data,and obtained other factors affecting the psychological quality of junior high school students.Based on the study,we finally made discussions and made educational suggestions.The main conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)The negative body image score of junior high school students was generally less than the critical value of 2.That means the overall body image level is higher.The scores of negative body image on each dimension are,from high to low,overall characteristics,shortness,fatness,physiognomy,and thinness.There were no significant differences in the total score of negative body image of junior high school students in gender,urban and rural areas,grade,age,whether they were only child,and whether they were class leaders,but there are differences in some demographic variables in each dimension.(2)Junior high school students have a high overall self-esteem level.There are significant differences in four aspects:gender,grade,urban and rural areas,and whether or not they are class leaders.This is manifested in the fact that boys have higher levels of self-esteem than girls;The level of self-esteem in the third grade is lower than that in the first and second grades;Urban students have higher levels of self-esteem than rural students;Students who serve as class leaders in their class have higher levels of self-esteem than non-class leaders.In addition,there was no significant difference in the self-esteem level of junior high school students in the variables of age or whether they were only child.(3)The overall interpersonal distress of junior high school students was at a low level of distress,with 21.2 percent of students suffering from moderate interpersonal distress and 17.3 percent of students suffering from high interpersonal distress.There are significant gender differences in interpersonal distress among junior high school students,and girls have a higher degree of interpersonal distress than boys.(4)There is a negative correlation between negative body image and self-esteem,negative body image has a positive correlation with interpersonal distress,and self-esteem has a negative correlation with interpersonal distress.(5)Self-esteem plays a partial mediating role between negative body image and interpersonal distress.