Thesis Title: Self-esteem and Body Image Concerns of Mothers Who Gained Weight after their First Borns
Student Name: Salwa Zafar
Supervisors: Arooj Arshad & Saima Ghazal, PhD
Degree: BS
Year: 2014-2018
Abstract
The current study was aimed at assessing the relationship between self- esteem and body image concerns in new mothers who gained weight after their first born. It was hypothesized that (1) Self-esteem would be negatively related to body image concerns (surveillance, appearance control beliefs, and body shame) in mothers who gained weight after first birth. (2) Self-esteem would predict body image concerns (surveillance, appearance control beliefs, and body shame) in mothers who gained weight after first birth. (3) Self-esteem and body image concerns (surveillance, appearance control beliefs, and body shame) would be different in mothers with reference to the gender of their new born. A sample of new mothers (N = 150) aged 20-30 years (M = 24.35, SD = 1.18), who conceived within a year of marriage, had vaginal mode of delivery, were recruited within 40 days of post-delivery of their new born from different vaccination wards of government hospital and vaccination clinics of Lahore, Pakistan, using purposive sampling. Body image concerns were measured by Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996) and self-esteem was measured by Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). The results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson product moment correlation, Hierarchical regression analysis and Independent sample t-test were employed to test the study hypotheses. The results showed that self- esteem and body shame, a domains of body image concerns, were significantly negatively correlated. Gender of the new born doesn’t show any difference in body image concerns and self-esteem. The research findings shed light in better understanding the transition of a role as new mothers and their physical appearance in our cultural context.
Keywords: Self-esteem, Body image concerns.
