Browsing by Subject "kehonkuvatyytymättömyys"

Objectives of the study Depression is one of the greatest factors to decrease the quality of life. However, its etiology has no clear scientific base. It has been thought that depression is a latent variable, but this view has been questioned. According to the network approach stressful life events are directly linked to depressive symptoms without a latent variable. Body image dissatisfaction is a more long-lasting and stable depressive symptom than the other symptoms. In addition, body image dissatisfaction predicts depression, but depression does not predict body image dissatisfaction. It is probable that body image dissatisfaction is linked to appearance. In this study I examine if different adverse effects of unattractive appearance are associated with body image dissatisfaction, when the level of depression is controlled. If this is true it would indicate that body image dissatisfaction cannot be explained by one-dimensional depression. In this study the adverse effects of unattractive appearance were low income level and living alone, which are both linked to unattractive appearance according to previous studies. Methods In this study there were 1638–2969 participants depending on the analysis. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study was used as the research material. Item response theory model and logistic regression were used to examine differential item functioning (DIF) in this study. DIF appears when an item of some latent variable has different scores in different groups even if the groups have the same score in the latent variable. Therefore I examined if equally depressed people do differ in body image dissatisfaction if they belong to the low income or living alone groups. Results and conclusions According to this study it is possible that depression is not a one-dimensional phenomenon. Low income level and living alone were inked to depressive symptoms and body image dissatisfaction. In addition, income level was associated differently to body image dissatisfaction than other depressive symptoms [χ² = 459.01, P < 0.001]. Living alone was not. Regardless, questioning the one-dimensionality of depression demands same kind of examination of other depressive symptoms in the future research.