The Relationship between Body Appreciation and Self-Esteem and Associated Factors among Omani University Students: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background. Given the rapid pace of globalization and the fact that the Sultanate of Oman is experiencing a significant impact of social media on specifying appearance norms among youth in the country, research into positive body images and self-esteem among young individuals has become a national priority. Whilst body image has been well studied across cultures, both positive body image and the relationship between positive body image and self-esteem among Omani youth have been neglected. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between positive body image and self-esteem and associated sociodemographic factors among Omani university students based on gender. Methods. This cross-sectional study used an online survey consisting of the two questionnaires that are Body Appreciation Scale-2 and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. A total of 237 students were recruited from Sultan Qaboos University’s different colleges. Results. The results indicated that positive body image has a significant relationship with an individual’s self-esteem (β = 0.122, t = 2.197, p = 0.038 ), Cumulative Grade Point Average (cGPA) (β = 0.140, t = 2.306, p = 0.022 ), body mass index (BMI) (β = −0.414, t = −6.930, p < 0.001 ), monthly household income (β = −0.129, t = 2.467, p = 0.029 ), and the number of social media accounts (≥2, β = −0.132, t = −2.232, p = 0.027 ). In addition, an individual’s self-esteem was significantly associated with an individual’s cGPA (β = 0.231, t = 3.592, p < 0.001 ) and mothers’ educational level (β = −0.130, t = −2.065, p = 0.040 ) besides body appreciation (β = 0.160, t = 2.491, p = 0.013 ). Conclusions. The findings of this study shed light on the current status of positive body image among university students of Oman. In light of the new knowledge, we propose health interventions that include strategies such as involvement of family, to maintain and/or promote positive body image perceptions among young individuals and subsequently promote healthy appreciation of the physical appearance and self-esteem.

Person-centered evaluation of positive body image among Chinese nursing students: Associations with body appreciation, self-concept clarity, and negative affect

“…Zhang et al 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1088702 Frontiers in Psychology 08 frontiersin.org half of the students surveyed had unsatisfactory BA. This result is inconsistent with several variable-centered methods of national and international studies, which posited above average levels of BA among Chinese college students, Norwegian exercise science university students, and Omani university students, reflecting the population homogeneity (Khalaf et al, 2021;Sundgot-Borgen et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022). As cited previously, the majority of nursing students are female, which may explain why the results differed between the general sample of college students and the nursing students (Jiang et al, 2019).…”

[Retracted] Analysis of the Relationship between National Image Building and International Communication Ability from the Perspective of Ecology under the Media Environment

“…This paper selects the research perspective of international communication ecology to take care of the construction of China's national image [ 6 ]. This is because, firstly, international communication is the main way to shape a country's image; secondly, the systematic research method of ecology can not only give us a macroscopic and holistic research perspective but also help us to understand the inner workings of the international communication system at a clear level, laws, and their interaction with external systems [ 7 ].…”

Correlates of body image and self esteem among adolescents

“…While persons having great body image welcome and acknowledge the distinctiveness and characteristics of the body, which makes them to pay attention more on what their bodies can do instead of how it seems because of which they accept their bodies unconditionally. Individuals' positive approach to view their body leads them to feel satisfied with what they have in their life and move them towards having a high sense of selfesteem (Khalaf, Hashmi & Omari, 2021;Bansal, 2017).…”

“…Mothers appear to have an equally important role. Furthermore, mothers having low education may lack the information and resources needed to assist and teach their children about many elements of body image, physical appearance, and bodily functions, thus leading to have body image problems in adulthood (Khalaf, Hashmi & Omari, 2021).…”

“…Adolescents should get social media literacy training, which will help them think critically about content of media and messaging and minimise their participation in detrimental activities encouraged by its influencers. To combat the present wave of slim body idealisation in social media, interventional programmes employing social media are also needed (Khalaf, Hashmi & Omari;2021). Audrey, Satyadarma & Subroto (2020) study used a sample of 150 female teen Instagram users to look at the association between body image & self-esteem.…”