Embodiment över ett år: En kvantitativ studie om tonåringars förhållande till sin kropp och psykiska hälsa
(2025) PSPR14 20251Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- The concept of embodiment entails the combined experience of having a body and being a body. Empirical studies regarding teenagers’ embodiment are limited, and longitudinal approaches are entirely lacking. Thus, the current study aimed to exploratively examine the one-year stability of embodiment, as measured by the 12-item Embodiment Scale and its subscales Harmonious body, Disharmonious body and Body for others. A further purpose was to study embodiment’s longitudinal relationship to life satisfaction, disordered eating, anxiety and depression. The study included 309 Swedish students in grades 7–9 (13–16 years; 47.25% girls) who answered a digital questionnaire about their well-being at a one-year interval. The results showed higher... (More)
- The concept of embodiment entails the combined experience of having a body and being a body. Empirical studies regarding teenagers’ embodiment are limited, and longitudinal approaches are entirely lacking. Thus, the current study aimed to exploratively examine the one-year stability of embodiment, as measured by the 12-item Embodiment Scale and its subscales Harmonious body, Disharmonious body and Body for others. A further purpose was to study embodiment’s longitudinal relationship to life satisfaction, disordered eating, anxiety and depression. The study included 309 Swedish students in grades 7–9 (13–16 years; 47.25% girls) who answered a digital questionnaire about their well-being at a one-year interval. The results showed higher individual and group-level stability in embodiment over one year for girls compared to boys. The girls also reported more problematic embodiment. Embodiment was positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with mental health issues one year later. However, the strength of these associations ranged from weak to strong depending on gender. Embodiment also predicted the outcome variables one year later with a medium to large effect size. The Harmonious Body subscale was consistently the strongest predictor. Only for disordered eating did all embodiment subscales contribute to the prediction. Our findings indicate that embodiment has important explanatory value for mental health in teenagers, especially girls, but they need to be further validated. The study supports the theoretical link between embodiment and eating-related problems. Continued research efforts are needed, and the manifestation of embodiment in a clinical sample should be examined. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Begreppet embodiment innefattar den kombinerade upplevelsen av att ha en kropp respektive att vara en kropp. Empiri kring embodiment hos tonåringar är mycket begränsad och longitudinella studier saknas helt. Vår studie syftade därför till att explorativt undersöka hur embodiment förändrades över ett år, mätt med skalan 12-item Embodiment Scale och dess delskalor Harmonisk kropp, Disharmonisk kropp samt Kropp för andra. Ett ytterligare syfte var att utforska embodiments relation till livstillfredsställelse, ätstört beteende, ångest och depression longitudinellt. Studien inkluderade 309 svenska skolelever i årskurs 7–9 (13–16 år; 47,25 % flickor) som med ett års mellanrum besvarade en digital enkät om sitt mående. Resultatet visade högre... (More)
- Begreppet embodiment innefattar den kombinerade upplevelsen av att ha en kropp respektive att vara en kropp. Empiri kring embodiment hos tonåringar är mycket begränsad och longitudinella studier saknas helt. Vår studie syftade därför till att explorativt undersöka hur embodiment förändrades över ett år, mätt med skalan 12-item Embodiment Scale och dess delskalor Harmonisk kropp, Disharmonisk kropp samt Kropp för andra. Ett ytterligare syfte var att utforska embodiments relation till livstillfredsställelse, ätstört beteende, ångest och depression longitudinellt. Studien inkluderade 309 svenska skolelever i årskurs 7–9 (13–16 år; 47,25 % flickor) som med ett års mellanrum besvarade en digital enkät om sitt mående. Resultatet visade högre stabilitet på individ- och gruppnivå för flickor jämfört med pojkar. Flickorna rapporterade även mer problematisk embodiment. Embodiment var positivt associerat med livstillfredsställelse och negativt associerat med psykisk ohälsa ett år senare. Styrkorna i sambanden varierade dock från svaga till starka beroende på kön. Embodiment kunde med medelstor till stor effektstorlek även predicera utfallsvariablerna ett år senare. Delskalan Harmonisk kropp var genomgående den starkaste prediktorn. Endast för ätstört beteende bidrog samtliga delskalor i embodiment till prediktionen. Resultaten av studien indikerar att embodiment har ett viktigt förklaringsvärde för psykisk hälsa hos tonåringar, i synnerhet flickor, men de behöver bekräftas i fler studier. Studien ger stöd åt den teoretiska kopplingen mellan embodiment och ätrelaterad problematik. Fortsatt kunskapsbildning på området behövs, och hur embodiment yttrar sig hos ett kliniskt urval bör undersökas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9191167
- author
- Ancker, My LU and Larsson, Matilda LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- PSPR14 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- embodiment, tonåringar, ätstört beteende, psykisk hälsa, adolescents, disordered eating, mental health
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9191167
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-12 08:14:49
- date last changed
- 2025-06-12 08:14:49
@misc{9191167,
abstract = {{The concept of embodiment entails the combined experience of having a body and being a body. Empirical studies regarding teenagers’ embodiment are limited, and longitudinal approaches are entirely lacking. Thus, the current study aimed to exploratively examine the one-year stability of embodiment, as measured by the 12-item Embodiment Scale and its subscales Harmonious body, Disharmonious body and Body for others. A further purpose was to study embodiment’s longitudinal relationship to life satisfaction, disordered eating, anxiety and depression. The study included 309 Swedish students in grades 7–9 (13–16 years; 47.25% girls) who answered a digital questionnaire about their well-being at a one-year interval. The results showed higher individual and group-level stability in embodiment over one year for girls compared to boys. The girls also reported more problematic embodiment. Embodiment was positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with mental health issues one year later. However, the strength of these associations ranged from weak to strong depending on gender. Embodiment also predicted the outcome variables one year later with a medium to large effect size. The Harmonious Body subscale was consistently the strongest predictor. Only for disordered eating did all embodiment subscales contribute to the prediction. Our findings indicate that embodiment has important explanatory value for mental health in teenagers, especially girls, but they need to be further validated. The study supports the theoretical link between embodiment and eating-related problems. Continued research efforts are needed, and the manifestation of embodiment in a clinical sample should be examined.}},
author = {{Ancker, My and Larsson, Matilda}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Embodiment över ett år: En kvantitativ studie om tonåringars förhållande till sin kropp och psykiska hälsa}},
year = {{2025}},
}