Determinants of Prediction of New Mothers’ Dissatisfaction with their Body Shape

Introduction: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relative contribution of the predictors: body mass index (BMI), weight gain during pregnancy, the importance of physical appearance, positive and negative partner comments, and sociocultural attitudes towards physical appearance in explaining the construct of dissatisfaction with personal body image after the first pregnancy. Total of 250 new mothers from Serbia participated in the online survey. The average age of the participants was 29.15±5.03 years. Methods: The following questionnaires were used: Socio-demographic and Pregnancy Data Questionnaire, General Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ), and the Partner’s Verbal Commentary on Physical Appearance Scale (VCOPAS-P). The measuring instruments showed satisfactory internal consistency on the Serbian sample. Results: The results of the conducted hierarchical regression analysis showed that the predictor variables predicted 70% of the proportion of the total variance of the criterion of dissatisfaction with individual physical appearance in the maternity population. Additionally, a statistically significant partial contribution to the dependent variable was shown by the values of the three Beta coefficients of the three moderators: negative comments, the importance of physical appearance, and sociocultural attitudes. Conclusion: Multivariate linear regression function, at the level of significance (p ≤ .01 or p ≤ .05), enables the identification of relevant predictor variables in predicting self-perception of dissatisfaction with body shape among new mothers in the Serbian-speaking area.