Using the National Longitudinal Study for Adolescent Health (AddHealth) this study investigated six hypotheses assessing the relationship between adolescent body mass and self-esteem. Specifically, this study sought to identify whether elective coping mechanisms, including academic performance, extracurricular participation, and voluntarism, mediated the relationship between body mass and self-esteem.
A variety of statistical methods (including regression and path analyses) revealed that the relationship between adolescent body mass and self-esteem was suppressed by intervening variables including negative body image and academic performance. When controlling for academic performance and body image, adolescents with higher body mass exhibit higher self-esteem than those adolescents with lower body mass at the stringent p > .001 level.
The implication of the finding of higher body mass being related to higher self-esteem, when controlling for negative body image and academic performance, is enough to give pause. Perception of acceptance of those of varying body sizes may protect a growing group of adolescents from diminished self-esteem.