Appearance anxiety and social anxiety: A mediated model of self-compassion

Jie Gao; Yi Feng; Shicun Xu; Amanda Wilson; Hui Li; Xiaofeng Wang; Xi Sun; Yuanyuan Wang

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1105428

Appearance anxiety and social anxiety: A mediated model of self-compassion

Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 21:11:1105428. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1105428. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jie Gao^{1

2}, Yi Feng^{3

4}, Shicun Xu^{5

6

7}, Amanda Wilson⁸, Hui Li⁹, Xiaofeng Wang⁵, Xi Sun⁶, Yuanyuan Wang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
² School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Mental Health Center, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China.
⁴ Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Northeast Asian Research Center, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
⁶ Department of Population, Resources and Environment, Northeast Asian Studies College, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
⁷ China Center for Aging Studies and Social-Economic Development, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
⁸ Division of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom.
⁹ School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have focused on the comorbidity of appearance anxiety and social anxiety, but few studies have focused on the protective role of self-compassion as underlying this mechanism, in young people like University students. With the increase of prevalence of appearance anxiety and social anxiety in this age group, it is necessary to explore factors that can buffer against the symptoms of these disorders. Therefore, the aims of this study were to research the effect of appearance anxiety and social anxiety, then to examine whether self-compassion has a protective effect on social anxiety.

Method: The study was cross-sectional and conducted online from October 2021 to November 2021 in Jilin Province, China. A total of 63 Universities in the province participated in this study, totaling 96,218 participants, of which 40,065 were males (41.64%) and 56,153 females (58.36%), the mean age of the sample was 19.59 (±1.74). The Appearance Anxiety Scale-Brief Version was used to measure appearance anxiety. The Social Anxiety subscale of the Self-Consciousness Scale was used to measure social anxiety. The Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form was used to measure self-compassion. A structural equation model (SEM) was run to examine the mediating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between appearance anxiety and social anxiety.

Result: Overall, appearance anxiety was positively associated with social anxiety [β = 0.334, 95% CI = (0.328, 0.341), p < 0.001], and self-compassion could mediate the effect of appearance anxiety on social anxiety [β = 0.128, 95% CI = (0.124, 0.132), p < 0.001]. Self-compassion played a partial mediating role between appearance anxiety and social anxiety.

Conclusion: Individuals with high appearance anxiety are also at higher risk of social anxiety, but self-compassion can buffer against this relationship. These findings begin to explore novel approaches to treat social anxiety and can provide valuable insights for self-compassion training.

Keywords: appearance anxiety; mediating effect; self-compassion; social anxiety; structural equation model (SEM).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Anxiety / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Empathy
Female
Humans
Male
Self Concept*
Self-Compassion*

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China NSFC 82201708.