Impacto de Imágenes Femeninas Presentadas por los Medios de Comunicación en Adolescentes Mujeres de la Región Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile

• Published in: Psykhe 2013-01, Vol.22 (1)
• Main Authors: Larrain, María Elena, Arrieta, Montserrat, Orellana, Yasna, Zegers, Beatriz
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; spa
• Subjects: Religion; Schools; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0717-0297; 0718-2228
• DOI: 10.7764/psykhe.22.1.634

The purpose of this study was to explore if body image among female adolescents is affected by the images that the mass media presents. The interest was to identify any differences in media impact related to age, socioeconomic status (SES), grade, school type (female/coeducational) and school regime (religious/non-religious). The IMAMIF questionnaire (Larrain Camus, Orellana, & Arrieta, 2009) was applied to a convenience sample of 923 7th, 9th, and 11th grade teenage female highschool students from 12 schools in Santiago, Chile. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to establish possible differences in the total score and in the Body Objectification, Pathological Diet and Body Dissatisfaction dimensions. Post hoc tests were used to explore the direction of these differences. Teenagers from the lowest SES obtained higher scores on the Body Objectification dimension and 7th grade girls displayed lower scores compared to 9th and 11th grade ones. Finally, girls from single-sex religiously-oriented schools scored lower than those from coeducational religiously-oriented schools and from both single-sex and coeducational non-religious schools.