The impact of fashion clothing involvement and self-objectification on women’s mental health: A cross-sectional study among Brazilian women

Brazilian women experience a high level of appearance pressures, which are associated with risky health behaviours and adverse outcomes. Yet, the involvement with fashion clothing, a central aspect of appearance-related practices, has not undergone exploration among Brazilian women. This evokes concern, due to the popularity of image consulting interventions (providing advice on clothing, style, and colour coordination), which could be potentially harmful, given the current lack of understanding regarding the impact of fashion clothing involvement on body image and mental health. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore these associations, whereby 710 Brazilian women (M age = 34.20, SD= 8.70) completed measures of fashion clothing involvement, self-objectification, body shame, disordered eating attitudes, self-esteem and acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Bivariate correlations revealed associations between higher fashion clothing involvement and higher self-objectification, higher acceptance of cosmetic surgery and higher self-esteem. Partial correlations, controlling for self-objectification, revealed higher fashion clothing involvement to be associated with higher self-esteem, lower body shame and lower disordered eating attitudes. Confounding testing suggested that the fashion clothing involvement negative associations may be partially explained by self-objectification. Overall, findings suggest that fashion clothing involvement may be positively or negatively associated with Brazilian women’s mental health, highlighting the need for future research to further elucidate this complex relationship.