Introduction

Adolescents and young adults who overemphasize the social values placed on an attractive appearance may develop body dysmorphic symptoms (BDS), defined as over-preoccupation with perceived appearance flaws and repetitive behaviors to conceal the flaws. Further, research has found that a heightened expectation of judgement and rejection by others because of appearance (i.e., appearance-based rejection sensitivity [appearance-RS]) is both a maintaining and an aggravating factor in BDS. This study focused on emotion regulation (ER), appearance-related support from others and self-acceptance, expecting they would buffer the negative impact of appearance-RS on BDS.

Methods

Participants included 782 Australian high school and young university students, aged 14–28 years (M = 17.94 years, 40% male) who completed a survey to report their BDS, appearance-RS, ER, appearance-related support from others and self-acceptance.

Results

Multiple regression analyses revealed that youth reported more BDS when they were higher in appearance-RS but reported less self-acceptance, ER, and support from others. Further, the association between appearance-RS and BDS was weaker when young people reported higher (relative to lower) ER and support from others. However, when three-way interactions with gender were tested, these buffering effects were only significant for young men.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that ER and appearance-related support from important others are promising targets for intervention, given they could mitigate the risk of appearance-RS in young men. However, further research is needed to consider additional factors that buffer against the negative effects of appearance-RS on BDS for young women.

中文翻译：

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情绪调节和他人的支持：青少年和年轻成年男性但女性身体畸形症状的缓冲

介绍

过分强调外表吸引人的社会价值的青少年和年轻人可能会出现身体畸形症状（BDS），定义为过度专注于感知到的外表缺陷和重复行为以掩盖缺陷。此外，研究发现，由于外表（即基于外表的拒绝敏感性[appearance-RS]）而对他人的判断和拒绝的期望提高是BDS的维持和加重因素。本研究侧重于情绪调节 (ER)、他人的外表相关支持和自我接纳，期望它们能缓冲外表 RS 对 BDS 的负面影响。

方法

参与者包括 782 名澳大利亚高中和年轻大学生，年龄在 14-28 岁（M  = 17.94 岁，40% 男性），他们完成了一项调查，报告了他们的 BDS、外观-RS、ER、来自他人的外观相关支持和自我验收。

结果

多元回归分析表明，当他们的外观-RS 较高时，年轻人报告更多的 BDS，但报告的自我接纳、ER 和来自他人的支持较少。此外，当年轻人报告较高（相对于较低）ER 和其他人的支持时，外观-RS 和 BDS 之间的关联较弱。然而，当测试与性别的三向相互作用时，这些缓冲效应仅对年轻男性显着。

结论

研究结果表明，来自重要他人的 ER 和与外观相关的支持是有希望的干预目标，因为它们可以降低年轻男性出现外观 RS 的风险。然而，需要进一步的研究来考虑额外的因素来缓冲外观 RS 对年轻女性 BDS 的负面影响。