Body Size and Well-being in Adolescents: The Roles of Bullying Victimization and Body Image

Abstract

This research investigates the association between body size and key indicators of well-being for adolescents (i.e., self-rated health, mental health, and life satisfaction), and simultaneously tests two social mechanisms that may explain these relationships: stigma enacted as bullying victimization and body image, representing the “outside” and “inside” views of the body, respectively. This study tested these relationships using the United States Health Behaviors in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2009/2010 data set ( N = 12,210). Results demonstrated that larger body size is associated with reduced well-being on all the indicators studied as well as higher levels of bullying victimization and worse body image. However, body image predominantly mediates the relationship between body size and well-being. The study broadens the empirical base on whether body size is linked to well-being for adolescents, clarifies the role of two important social mechanisms, and indicates that body image is critical to understanding the effects of body size.