Comparison of body image anxiety of athletic and nonathletic elder women: The mediator role of body index with relation to self-respect and body image anxiety

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of physical exercise on the body image concern in elder females, and also the mediating role of body mass index in the relationship between self-esteem and body image concern. From all elder females in Tehran, a sample consisting of 177 athletic elder females and 195 non-athletics elder females were recruited from restricts 2, 6, 22, and 4 in Tehran by cluster random sampling. Littleton's body image concern (2005), Rosenberg's self-esteem (1963), and individual information questionnaires were used to collect data. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by measuring participant's heights and weights. Multiple analyzes of variance (MANOVA) was used to compare the dimensions of body image concern in the two groups. Also, the mediating role of body mass index in the relationship between self-esteem and body image concern were examined with regression analysis. Results of this study showed that body image concerns in athletic females were significantly lower in all subscales from non-athletic counterparts (P