Body Image in Adolescent Girls with Different Body Mass Index Having Gynecological Diseases

Abstract

Background. The study relevance is due to a decrease in publication activity in relation to the object of research in the last 10 years (according to the professional information database LENS.ORG) by 12% compared to the previous decade, while social demand remains high. Objectives. The goal is to identify differences in the structural components of body image, as well as factors involved in its formation in adolescent girls with different body mass indexes and gynecological diseases. Study Participants. 31 teenage girls aged 11–17 years (Mage = 14.06, SD = 2.02 years), having a confirmed gynecological disease according to ICD-10 (menstrual irregularities, inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs, benign tumors of the pelvic organs and mammary glands). Methods. The study used the author's questionnaire, consisting of 3 substantive blocks of questions (socio-demographic; somatic, socio-psychological data) and 4 psychodiagnostic techniques: Body Image Questionnaire by O.A. Skugarevsky and S.V. Sivukha; SIBID questionnaire (Thomas F. Cash) adapted by L.T. Baranskaya and S.S. Tataurova; Nonverbal technique for assessing satisfaction with body areas (SBS) Meshkova T.A., Neuropsychological tests for somatognosis (right-left orientation in the body diagram, idea of body size in space). Results. Statistically significant differences in the level of dissatisfaction with both their own body and body parts were revealed between the groups of adolescent girls with different BMI values. At the level of somatosensory gnosis, both groups showed disturbances in quasi-spatial orientation (orientation in their own body), which manifested themselves in mirroring errors and difficulty transferring the spatial organization of hand posture in the horizontal and vertical planes of right-left orientation. Statistically significant direct relationships were revealed between BMI values and indicators of dissatisfaction with their own body and situational dissatisfaction with body image. Significant relationships between BMI and the time spent in the digital space, the number of subscribers in social networks, school performance, and diet were revealed. Conclusions. As a result of the conducted research, a significant correlation between body mass index indicators in adolescent girls with gynecological diseases with such indicators as satisfaction/dissatisfaction with their own body and their body image, time spent in the digital space and the number of subscribers, school performance, as well as diet was revealed.

Keywords

• body image
• girls
• teenager
• body mass index
• gynecological diseases