Body image avoidance behaviors in adolescence: A multilevel analysis of contextual effects associated with the physical education class

This paper studied the effects of the Physical Education (PE) class context on adolescent body avoidance behaviors. Cross-sectional study. A sample of adolescents (n = 1792) completed questionnaires measuring body size dissatisfaction, body image avoidance behaviors and physical activity levels. Their PE teachers (n = 81) completed questionnaires of body size dissatisfaction, attitudes toward obesity and teaching characteristics, including questions regarding teaching style, experience and training. Participants' height and weight were measured. Contextual effects -PE teachers' and peers' influence-were analyzed using multilevel methods. Multilevel regression showed that the stronger the desire for thinness of PE classmates the more frequent the body avoidance behaviors of the adolescents. We also found an inverse relationship of the teachers' teaching experience and academic training with students' avoidance behaviors. The PE teacher and PE classmates exercise a degree of influence on some of the behavioral manifestations of body image problems, even when the effects of the individual characteristics of the adolescents are controlled. However, the influence of this educational context has limited predictive capacity and should be studied together with other social contexts –friends and family-in future research. •Classmates' body size dissatisfaction is related to adolescents' body avoidance.•PE teachers' training and experience are related to adolescents' body avoidance.•Contextual effects persist even when controlling for individual characteristics.•Future research should assess the relative weakness of these contextual effects.