Citation

Guinn B, Semper T, Jorgensen L. Hisp. J. Behav. Sci. 1997; 19(4): 517-526.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/07399863970194009

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Self-esteem, the evaluative manner in which one judges herself or himself; forms the foundation of emotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of Mexican American female adolescents' self-esteem with body image, exercise behavior, and bodyfatness. Two hundredfifty-four subjects, ranging in agefrom 13 to 15 years, were drawn from a predominantly Mexican American population located in the LowerRio Grande Valley region of Texas. Data were gathered through a self-report instrument consisting of self-esteem, body image, and exercise involvement scales and anthropometric measures.

RESULTS indicated significant positive relationships between self-esteem and body image and exercise involvement and a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and bodyfatness. Body image,followed by exercise, exerted the strongest explanatory power of subjects'self-esteem scores.

FINDINGS suggest that a degree of body distortion exists in female Mexican American adolescents.

Language: en