The Association Between Menstrual Cycle Characteristics and Perceived Body Image: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Polish Female Adolescents

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of negative body perceptions among adolescent girls and the tendency towards wishing to be thinner have become a cultural norm in Western culture. Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to developing a negative body image due to physical and sexual changes occurring during puberty. This study aimed to evaluate the association between different measures of body image perceptions and different phases of the menstrual cycle after controlling for weight status and other potential confounders in Polish adolescent girls aged 12-18 years. Three-hundred and thirty participants of a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2009, normally cycling and with no eating disorders, completed a background questionnaire and the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale, and their anthropometric measurements were collected. The dependent outcome variables were measures of body image (actual body image, ideal body image and ideal-self discrepancy) and dichotomous body image perception (satisfied versus dissatisfied) adjusted for other predictor factors: socio-demographic variables, menstrual history and cycle phases, and weight status. One-way ANOVA indicated that weight status, age at menarche and menstrual cycle phase were associated with actual body image and rate of ideal-self discrepancy. Ideal body image was associated with weight status and menstrual cycle phase. General logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate associations of body dissatisfaction and all potential predictor variables. The final selected model of the multiple logistic regression analysis using the backward elimination procedure revealed that adjusted for other factors, negative body image was significantly associated with different phases of the menstrual cycle (p trend=0.033) and increasing body weight status (p trend=0.0007). The likelihood of body dissatisfaction was greatest during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle (OR=2.38; 95% CI 1.06, 5.32) and among girls in obesity class I (OR=8.04; 95% CI 2.37, 27.26). The study confirmed the association between body image dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and different phases of the menstrual cycle after controlling for weight status. The issue of negative body self-image is not only of cognitive, but also of practical value as understanding better the factors contributing to the formation of a negative body image may be instrumental in developing preventive health programmes targeted at young people.

Overweight and Body Image Perception in Adolescents with Triage of Eating Disorders

“…In the present study, the secondary sexual characteristics of puberty were associated with the ED screening, as in the study done by Scherer et al (2010) who also found an association between the presence of menarche, body dissatisfaction, and symptoms of ED. Kaczmarek and Trambacz-Oleszak (2015) found an association between body dissatisfaction and different phases of the menstrual cycle in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, showing that puberty and the body modifications it brings often result in bodily dissatisfaction, which can serve as a risk factor for ED [27, 28]. …”

Sexuality in eating disorders patients: etiological factors, sexual dysfunction and identity issues. A systematic review

“…Indeed, ideal body image was associated with weight status and menstrual cycle phase, and negative body image was significantly associated with different phases of the menstrual cycle and increasing body weight status [42]. Moreover, Kaczmarek and Trambacz-Oleszak [42]…”

“…Apart from the developmental stage, it has been reported that EDs patients have a more negative subjective perception of menarche, pubertal body changes, and first sexual activities, as compared to healthy women [34,117]. Indeed, ideal body image was associated with weight status and menstrual cycle phase, and negative body image was significantly associated with different phases of the menstrual cycle and increasing body weight status [42]. Moreover, Kaczmarek and Trambacz-Oleszak [42]…”

“…Wichstrom [21] General population Fairburn et al [22] BN Fairburn et al [23] AN Kaltiala-Heino et al [24] BN Ruuska et al [25] AN, BN Klump et al [26] General population Cotrufo et al [27] General population (adolescent) Early puberty as risk factor for EDs Zehr et al [28] General population Day et al [29] General population (adolescent) Culbert et al [30] Baker et al [31] General population McNicholas et al [32] General population Schmidt et al [33] AN, BN Delays in psychosexual development Mangweth-Matzek et al [34] AN, BN Bad attitude toward menstruation; no association with early puberty Vannucci et al [35] General population (8-17 years) Kaltiala-Heino et al [36] General population (14-16 years) Early puberty as risk factor for bulimic type eating pathology Tenconi et al [37] AN patients Tremblay and Lariviere [38] Gen pop (adolescent) Early puberty as risk factor for weight control behaviors Abraham et al [39] General population (12-17 years) Menarche as risk factor for the EDs Favaro et al [40] AN, BN Striegel-Moore et al [41] General population Early puberty as risk factors for body image and dieting concerns Kaczmarek and Trambacz-Ol [42] General population (12-18 years) Stice et al [43] General population No association with early puberty Ackard and Peterson [44] AN, Anorexia nervosa; BN, bulimia nervosa; Eds, eating disorders. pubertal development.…”

“I feel fat and ugly and hate myself”: Self-objectification through negative constructions of premenstrual embodiment

“…Psychologists have made some attempt to examine the nature and function of embodied premenstrual change, reporting that body image “distortion”, reflecting perceived increase in size, and body dissatisfaction is higher in the premenstrual phase of the cycle in the “normal” female population who don’t self-position as PMS sufferers (Carr-Nangle, Johnson, Bergeron, & Nangle, 1994; Jappe & Gardner, 2009; Kaczmarek & Trambacz-Oleszak, 2016; Racine et al., 2012; Teixeira, Dias, Damasceno, Lamounier, & Gardner, 2013). In those women who do present with PMDs, levels of premenstrual symptom severity have been reported to be associated with body image disturbance (Muljat, Lustyk, & Miller, 2007) and with body dissatisfaction (Kleinstäuber et al., 2016).…”