Grading the physical self: Exploring the links between physical education grades, body image, and functional investment over one academic school year

This study examines the links between the first grade in physical education (PE) and Swedish adolescents’ aesthetic and functional body image and functional investment, referring to self-reported physical activity engagement, across time. We hypothesized direct links between body image constructs and PE grade (H1), an indirect effect of body image constructs on functional investment via the mediation of grade (H2), and stronger effects for girls than for boys (H3). We assessed 447 adolescents over three time points (T1–T3) in their sixth school year (age 12). Results from multigroup maximum likelihood structural equation models supported the hypotheses for girls. T1 higher functional and appearance satisfaction and T1 lower social physique predicted higher PE grades (measured at T2) (H1). The first PE grade mediated the association between each aspect of body image and changes in girls’ functional investment across time (H2). For boys, T1 higher functional satisfaction was directly associated with higher PE grade, but there was only limited evidence of mediation, thus lending partial support to H1 but very slight support for H2. Since the findings were consistent with the hypothesized models for girls but less so for boys, the third hypothesis was also supported. This unique longitudinal study provides novel evidence that both aesthetic and functional aspects of early adolescent girls’ body image are linked to academic achievement in PE, which in turn may impact girls’ functional investment across time.