Abstract
IntroductionIt is unknown whether male body dissatisfaction is related to anxiety and depression. This study investigates whether there is an association between body dissatisfaction and self-reported anxiety and/or depression in otherwise healthy adult males.MethodA systematic review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses as the reporting guideline. Four databases including CINAHL complete, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched for observational studies with a correlational design. Studies were appraised using the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies to measure quality and risk of bias. Data were extracted from studies to analyse and synthesise findings using content analysis and random effects meta-analyses in male body dissatisfaction and anxiety, depression, and both anxiety and depression.ResultsTwenty-three cross-sectional studies were included in the review. Nineteen studies found positive correlations between male body dissatisfaction and anxiety and/or depression. Meta-analyses of Pearson’s correlation coefficients found statistically significant associations with body satisfaction for anxiety 0.40 (95% CI 0.28 to 0.51) depression 0.34 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.45) and both anxiety and depression outcomes 0.47 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.59). The quality appraisal found study samples were homogeneous being mostly ascertained through academic institutions where participants were predominantly young, Caucasian and with relatively high educational attainment. Measures of body satisfaction focused predominantly on muscularity and thinness.DiscussionThis study provides the first pooled estimates of the correlation between body dissatisfaction and anxiety and depression in men. Findings need to be interpreted with respect to the samples and outcomes of the included studies. It is recommended that future research should increase the diversity of men in studies. Studies should measure a wider range of body dissatisfaction types found in men.ConclusionThe findings demonstrate that an association between male body dissatisfaction and anxiety and depression is likely to exist. Future research should address the temporal relationship between body dissatisfaction and anxiety and depression.
Highlights
The findings demonstrate that an association between male body dissatisfaction and anxiety and depression is likely to exist
Body dissatisfaction can lead to health risk behaviours including disordered eating, excessive exercise, taking diet pills and steroid use [3], and is associated with poor mental health including low mood, low self-esteem and psychiatric illnesses including eating disorders [1] and body dysmorphia [4]
The author roles were assigned at the beginning of the systematic review; the entire review was actively completed by one author (MB), though, close supervision and instruction were provided by two additional authors (PA; ED) during each step of the systematic review described below
Summary
The aim of this review is, to explore whether there is an association between body dissatisfaction and self-reported anxiety and/or depression in otherwise healthy adult males. The aim of this review was to investigate whether there is an association between body dissatisfaction and self-reported anxiety and/or depression in otherwise healthy adult males
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