Longitudinal relationships among sociocultural pressure for body image, self-concept clarity, and emotional well-being in adolescents.

Introduction: This study examined the longitudinal relationships among sociocultural pressure for body image (SPBI), self-concept clarity (SCC), and emotional well-being (EWB) at both the between- and within-person levels.

Methods: The participants were 2001 Chinese adolescents (age range 11-24, 42.9% males). Recruitment of participants occurred for 1 year across three waves (i.e., 6 months apart across three cohorts). The baseline and follow-up questionnaire surveys were utilized to assess SPBI, SCC, EWB, and background variables. Longitudinal associations between the above main variables were tested using a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and multilevel regression analysis.

Results: The CLPM and multilevel-model analysis showed that SCC longitudinally mediated the relationships between SPBI and EWB. Besides, gender and age were considered moderators in the associations among SPBI, SCC, and EWB.

Conclusions: SCC could be an underlying mechanism for the longitudinal relationship between SPBI and EWB among Chinese adolescents, which provides a potential intervention target for improving adolescents' well-being from a sociocultural framework.