The mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between family cohesion, stress and quality of life with body image satisfaction in adolescent girls

Adolescence is a sensitive period of dynamic changes in many systems, which, according to research, is important for dissatisfaction with body image, in the sense of a person's mental perception of the development of his body image. Investing too much on physical appearance, which is associated with mental preoccupation and emotional fluctuations, is one of the reasons for teenage girls' dissatisfaction with body image. Studies show the role of family cohesion, stress and quality of life in a person's body image, and there is a research gap in examining the body image of people who have more self-compassion.

This research was conducted with the aim of determining the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between family cohesion, stress and quality of life with body image satisfaction in adolescent girls.

The method of the present study was descriptive correlation of structural equations type. The statistical population of the research included female students aged 12 to 24 years in Tehran in 1400, 250 of them were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method, and after dropping 50 people from the sample group, the data of 200 of them were analyzed. The data collection tools included five questionnaires: Family cohesion questionnaire (Samani, 2002), Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (Byrne & Mazanov, 2002), Quality of Life Questionnaire (World Health Organization, 1996), Body Image Concern Inventory (Littleton et al. 2005) and Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003). The analysis of the data collected using SPSS statistical software version 26 and Amos software version 24 is presented in two parts: descriptive findings and model analysis findings.

The obtained findings indicate that the model of body image satisfaction based on quality of life, family cohesion and stress with the mediating role of self-compassion in teenage girls has a good fit (P>0.05).

According to the findings obtained in the present study, it seems that self-compassion plays a mediating role in the relationship between family cohesion, stress, and quality of life with satisfaction with body image in teenage girls. The results of this research can be a guide for families and school counselors in order to promote self-compassion, family cohesion, quality of life and reduce stress in teenage girls and improve body image satisfaction.