Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Anxiety, Stress, And Self-Esteem Across Genders In A University Sample: Exploring The Role Of Body Avoidance, Richelle Murphy, Peta Stapleton

Peta B. Stapleton

The present study aimed to investigate whether university students’ body avoidance behaviors could be predicted by their level of self-esteem, anxiety, and stress, as well as their BMI and gender. University students (n = 86) completed a self-report package and results indicated that anxiety was the most important predictor of body avoidance for university students. Gender was also predictive of avoidance for university students. Post Hoc analyses indicated that body avoidance, anxiety, stress, and BMI, were higher for female university students, yet no difference was found for self-esteem between genders. These results suggest preliminary evidence for the importance of elevated …