Title: Body Image Comparisons among Sport Type in High School Female Athletes
Abstract: PURPOSE: Today's society establishes pre-determined expectations regarding body image and appropriate appearance for participation in sports. This study examined actual (ABI), perceived (PBI) and desired body image (DBI) between sport types in high school female athletes. METHODS: A total of 281 participants were recruited during pre-participation physical examinations from low socio-economic status (SES) school districts in South Carolina. Participants were placed into one of three categories according to primary sport: performance squads (n=98), team sports (n=150), or individual sports (n=33). Participants completed a questionnaire that included self-reported and measured anthropometric variables and a gender-specific body mass index based silhouette questionnaire. BMI was calculated using measured height and weight, and defined as ABI. Each participant ranked PBI and DBI in sport uniform (SU) and regular clothing (RC). RESULTS: Paired sample t-test assessed body image between the ABI, PBI, and DBI variables for different sport groups. In addition, paired sample t-test assessed self reported height and weight for all participants. Participants significantly underestimated height (M=158.33+22.4 compared to M=161.27+6.63 cm; p=0.02) and weight (M=57.15+15.48 compared to 58.74+14.20 kg; p=0.02). ABI and PBI were moderately correlated (r=0.69). Performance and individual sports did not demonstrate a significant difference in PBI for the RC and the SU compared to DBI in RC and SU. The team sport category demonstrated a statistically significant difference for both PBI in RC compared to DBI in RC (M=22.37+2.7, M=21.5+1.74, p< 0.0125) and PBI in SU compared to DBI in SU (M=22.42+2.83, M=21.59+1.96, p<0.0125). CONCLUSIONS: BMI correlates with body-dissatisfaction for adolescent females. Female high school athletes participating in team sports in lower SES school districts have a desire for smaller body image in regular clothes and in their athletic uniform compared to their perceived body images.