The purpose of the current study was to examine if positive family, social, and/or academic dimensions of SC weaken (i.e., moderate) the direct relationship between physical SC (i.e., a person's evaluation of their physique, adiposity, and weight) and depressive symptoms in a sample of adult men. A convenience sample of 239 college men completed self-report measures including the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale-2 (TSCS-2) and Symptom Checklist-90 Revised. Hierarchical regressions revealed that family and social SC were significant moderators of the relationship between physical SC and depressive symptoms, suggesting how men see themselves in their family and social systems affects the aforementioned relationship. Academic SC, however, was not a significant moderator; it was negatively related to depressive symptoms no matter how men felt about their physical selves. Our findings suggest that feeling positively about one's relationships may protect men with poor physical SC from experiencing symptoms of depression at the rates or intensity of their similarly body dissatisfied peers who do not report positive family or social SC. An additional simultaneous regression assessed the contribution of various dimensions of SC to the prediction of depressive symptoms, physical (7.76%), social (8.02%) and academic (6.62%) self-concept accounted for significant amount of variance in symptoms of depression which family SC (2.61%) did not. College counselors who assist men presenting with poor physical SC or depressive symptoms should assess for the other problem, as they commonly co-occur. In addition, they may consider helping them to improve the quality of their relationships in family and social systems as reasonable interventions for both depression and poor physical SC. Importantly, men who experience their academic SC as deficient should be considered at-risk for depression, although more research is needed to help identify the types of students who report low academic SC. In addition, men with symptoms of depression would likely benefit from accommodations to support their academic functioning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1157585 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | McGregor, Carlie C. |
| Contributors | Kaminski, Patricia L., Petrie, Trent, Watkins, Clifton Ed |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | v, 53 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, McGregor, Carlie C, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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