Physical Self-Esteem of Adolescents with Regard to Physical Activity and Pubertal Status

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity and pubertal status differences in the multiple dimensions of physical self-esteem of Turkish adolescents. The current study also aimed to investigate the gender differences in the physical self-esteem. The pubertal status of participants was determined by a self-report questionnaire. The Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile and a weekly activity checklist were administered to 803 adolescents (Mage = 13.10 +/- 0.93). Analysis revealed significant main effects of physical activity on the multiple dimensions of physical self-esteem for both boys and girls. Follow-up analysis indicated that physically active boys and girls scored higher on almost all subscales of physical self-esteem than less active counterparts. The main effect of pubertal status and physical activity x pubertal status interaction were not significant either for boys or girls. Analysis also revealed significant gender differences in perceived body attractiveness, physical strength, physical condition, and physical self-worth subscales in favor of boys (p < .05).

The role of physical activity, body mass index and maturity status in body-related perceptions and self-esteem of adolescents

“…This finding should be carefully interpreted because there was no information about the body compositional changes of the adolescents. However, the current results are consistent with previous research carried out in Turkey (Güre et al, 2006;Altıntaş & Aşç ı, 2008) which has found no effect of pubertal timing on perception of self and no differences in multiple dimensions of self and physical self among adolescents with different pubertal status. In addition, the results of Benjet & Hernandez-Guzman (2002) on Mexican adolescents and Murdey et al (2005) on British adolescents support the findings of this study.…”

“…With regard to intra-personal factors, early-maturing girls have been found to have poorer body image than their later-maturing peers (Graber et al, 1999). This finding could also be supported by having less discriminated function of body attractiveness for physical activity of girls (Hagger et al, 1998) and the previous study that was carried on Turkish adolescents (Altıntaş & Aşç ı, 2008), which reported no significant differences in perceived body attractiveness of female adolescents in terms of physical activity. The results also concur with the results of Dishman et al (2006), who reported a positive influence of physical activity on physical self-concept independently from perceptions of appearance.…”

“…In order to ascertain pubertal status, a method frequently used in previous studies (Craft et al, 2003;Monsma et al, 2006;Murdey et al, 2005) was utilized in this study. The same procedure that was applied in Altıntaş & Aşç ı's (2008) study was employed to ascertain the pubertal status:…”

The Effects of a Self-Esteem Program Incorporated Into Health and Physical Education Classes

“…We found establishing physical self-esteem of students in an educational context (e.g., with PE classes) to be relevant. This study found changed physical self-esteem to be dissimilar to that observed by Lindwall and Lindgren (2005) and similar to those found in other research (Altintas & Asci, 2008;Burgess, Grogan, & Burwitz, 2006). Our finding that the self-esteem program incorporated into HE and PE classes had a marginal effect on family self-esteem should be further explored in the future.…”

Resistance Training in Youth - Benefits and Characteristics

“…Specifically, RT has been associated with improved physical self-perception [33][34][35], perceived competence [33,34], overall self-worth [36] and global self-esteem [37]. As selfperception and self-concept are associated with an individual's motivation towards and engagement in PA, this may have important implications for sustainable participation in various forms of PA [38,39]. Furthermore, muscular fitness has been shown to track into adulthood [40], and, therefore, can provide a strong foundation for a sustainable active lifestyle.…”