Body image changes in adolescents I development of Self-Rating Body Image (SRBI) test and effects of sex, age and body shape.

Abstract: We investigated the effects of sex, age and body shape on self‐body image estimated by our Self‐Rating Body Image (SRBI) test in 687 adolescents. Three factors were derived from the 20 items of the SRBI by using a factor analysis. They were interpreted as the images of “body shape,”“face” and “visceral organ.” Scores of these images in the females were significantly higher than those in the males. There was a significantly negative correlation between the body shape and “body shape” image for the female adolescents 13 years of age (middle) and 18 years of age (late), while no correlation was found for the male and female adolescents 10 years of age (early) and late male adolescents. Our results suggest that a female adolescent wants to be thinner and that the body image showed critical changes during the early and middle periods of adolescence, leading to unsatisfactory images of self‐body.