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Eating Disorders

How the Appreciation of Body functionality is for men and women? Gender differences and its relationship with Body Image and Life Satisfaction

(PS8-B28) How the Appreciation of Body Functionality Is for Men and Women? Gender Differences and Its Relationship with Body Image and Life Satisfaction

Saturday, November 19, 2022

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

Location: Westside Ballroom, 5th Floor

Author(s)

Diana Burychka, M.S.

Ph.D Student
Universitat de València
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
AZ

Angel Zamora, M.S.

Ph.D Student
Universitat de València
valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
MM

Marta Miragall, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
University of Valencia
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Co-Author(s)

Lorena Desdentado, M.S.

PhD student
University of Valencia
Valencia (Spain), Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
RH

Rocío Herrero, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
University of Zaragoza
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Author(s)

RB

Rosa M. Baños, Ph.D.

Professor
Universitat de València
Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Appreciation of Body Functionality (ABF) is a positive body image (BI) construct that refers to “appreciating, respecting, and honoring the body for what it is capable of doing”, which includes thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors concerning one's body. Recently, the Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS; Alleva et al., 2017) has been developed and validated to assess ABF, and results about the differences across gender are inconsistent. Moreover, there is scarce evidence about the relationship between ABF with BI-related constructs and life satisfaction, especially in men. Some evidence points out that the relationships among negative and positive BI constructs and life satisfaction may be different across gender. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the differences in FAS between women and men, as well as its relationships with body appreciation, body compassion, eating pathology, and satisfaction with life. A sample of 407 Spanish participants [62.4% women; Age: M = 30.46, SD = 10.97, range: 19-62 years old; Body Mass Index (BMI): M = 23.18; SD =4.21; range: 17-40 kg/m²; 37.6% men; Age: M = 29.10, SD = 10.51, range: 18-63 years old; BMI: M = 23.88; SD =3.14; range: 17-35 kg/m²] completed questionnaires related to body compassion (BCS; Altman et al., 2017), ABF (FAS; Alleva et al., 2017), body appreciation (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), eating pathology (EAT-26; Garner, 2004), and life satisfaction (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985). The results of the t-tests showed that there were not significant differences between men and women in the FAS, t(389)= -1.38, p =.17). Pearson correlations in the female sample showed positive significant relationships of FAS with variables of positive BI (BCS and BAS-2) and SWLS (r ranging from .44 to .69); as well as a significant negative relationship with EAT-26 (r =-.22). In the male sample, FAS was significantly positively correlated with BAS-2, BCS, and SWLS (r ranging from .39 to .61), whereas the relationships with EAT-26 were not significant (r = -.15). Findings indicate that the construct of ABF was not different across gender (with average values around 4, on a scale from 1 to 5). Moreover, ABF was associated not only with positive BI constructs but also with the levels of satisfaction with life, in both men and women. Moreover, ABF seems to be related to the negative BI (e.g., risk of eating disorders) in women, but not in men. Future longitudinal studies should explore whether ABF is a protective factor on other mental and physical health outcomes (e.g., eating disorders, chronic pain) in both men and women.