Female Athletes' Experiences of Body Surveillance, Body Shame, Depression Symptoms, and Self-Compassion

Author

Jennifer Yeoward

Date

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Suzanne H Lease

Committee Member

Laura R Marks

Committee Member

Sara Bridges

Committee Member

Leigh Harrell-Williams

Abstract

Female athletes are often recipients of conflicting messages about their bodies and these messages impact their mental health. Utilizing the framework of objectification theory, this online cross-sectional study focused on the reported experiences of body surveillance, body shame, and depression symptoms of female athletes (Mage = 34.21, SDage = 9.45). The study tested a moderated-mediation relationship among body surveillance, body shame, depression symptoms, and self-compassion to determine if body shame mediated the relationship between body surveillance and depression symptoms, and if self-compassion moderated the indirect relationship, by weakening the relationship between body surveillance and body shame. Two hundred and fifty-one self-identified female athletes were recruited via social media to complete an online survey. We found that body shame mediated the relationship between body surveillance and depressive symptoms. Additionally, the indirect relationship was present at all levels of self-compassion, but was weaker for participants experiencing higher levels of self-compassion. Overall, this study shows that female athletes also experience body surveillance, body shame, and depression symptoms, which coincides with similar findings related to non-athlete women. Additionally, this study suggests that practitioners who work with athletes may be able to use self-compassion as a point of intervention to help decrease body image concerns and improve overall mental health concerns for female athletes. Additional implications and future research directions are discussed.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

Notes

Open Access

Recommended Citation

Yeoward, Jennifer, "Female Athletes' Experiences of Body Surveillance, Body Shame, Depression Symptoms, and Self-Compassion" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2854.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/2854