Body Image of Adolescents in Taiwan

The primary goal of this research is to investigate factors influencing body image among adolescents and their group differences in Taiwan. Subjects were 180 vocational high school students aged 16 yrs. to 18 yrs. equally distributed by gender (m = 17.28; sd = 1.06). Scales included a basic inventory, personal trait inventory (including self-esteem and depression), parental influence inventory, peer influence inventory, body image inventory, and figure rating scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, stepwise regression, and t-tests. Findings include: adolescents with higher self-esteem had lower body image scores; parental influence and peer influence showed significant positive correlation with body image; and both body mass index (BMI) and depression showed significant positive correlation with body image. The variables of peer influence, BMI, self-esteem, and gender show predictive value with respect to body image. Groups with high/low self-esteem, parental influence, peer influence, and BMI scores showed significant variance in body image. Most adolescents would like to lose weight and be taller. Of the nine body type figures, subjects' ‘actual’ body type corresponded to Numbers 3 or 4, while ‘ideal’ body type tended toward Number 3, tall and slender.