ORGANISMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING : IS OBESITY A RISK FACTOR IN ADOLESCENTS’ PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT ?

Muhammad  B. SUKARIYAH

Using a nationally representative sample of adolescents from Cycle III of the National Health Examination survey, objective measures of obesity and intellectual/academic performance, and subjective measures of body build, health status, school achievement, school adjustment, and decision‑making were interrelated in order to investigate the influence of obesity on adolescents' psychosocial functioning.

Two alternative models were used as heuristics. The direct‑effects model stresses direct links between obesity and psychosocial functioning, while the mediated‑effects model emphasizes the role body‑image and social context in mediating the relationship between obesity and psychosocial functioning. The results of LISREL analysis indicated that the relation between obesity and psychosocial functioning was different for males and females. For girls, obesity was negatively related to intellectual level, health appraisal, and school achievement. For boys, however, obesity was positively related to intellectual level, school achievement, and decision‑making. Another gender‑related finding is that "being fat" and thinking fat" have different implications for girls' psychosocial functioning. While actual obesity in girls was negatively associated with psychosocial variables, higher self-ratings of body‑image (i.e., weight status, amount of food eaten, and desire to be thinner) were associated with higher scores on intellectual/academic level, and with higher ratings of health, school achievement, and decision‑making.

Furthermore, in support of the mediated‑effects model, the results of LISREL analysis indicated that the effects of obesity on intellectual/academic performance were reduced or eliminated due to the mediating role of school achievement ratings for males and females, and school adjustment and decision‑making ratings for males. Moreover, body‑image mediated the relations between obesity and health appraisal and decision‑making in males and females, and school achievement and intellectual/academic level in females. Similarly, parental ratings of youth's body mediated the relations between obesity and school achievement in males and females, and health appraisal, school adjustment, decision‑making, and Intellectual/academic level in females. The results were discussed in relation to their implications for family and school‑related interventions and directions for future research.