Self-Objectification and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Three-Wave Moderated Indirect-Effects Model Involving Body Shame and Self-Disgust

Background: Self-objectification has been consistently associated with adolescent depressive symptoms; however, the psychological processes linking appearance-based self-evaluation with broader self-directed negativity remain unclear. Objective: This three-wave study examined whether body shame and self-disgust were involved in the longitudinal association between self-objectification and depressive symptoms. It also tested perceived peer connectedness, indexed by reverse-coded loneliness, as a contextual moderator and used network analysis to explore item-level associations between body shame and self-disgust. Methods: A total of 1181 Chinese adolescents completed measures of self-objectification and perceived peer connectedness at Time 1, body shame and self-disgust at Time 2, and depressive symptoms at Time 3. Path analysis within a structural equation modeling framework tested a moderated indirect-effects model controlling for gender and grade. Results: Self-objectification was longitudinally associated with depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly through body shame and self-disgust. Perceived peer connectedness modestly attenuated the association between self-objectification and body shame. Network analysis identified item-level bridge associations between body shame and self-disgust. Conclusions: The findings suggest that self-objectification may be linked to later depressive symptoms through appearance-specific shame and broader self-directed negativity. Perceived peer connectedness showed a modest buffering pattern, and the network results highlighted item-level links between body shame and self-disgust that may inform future research on adolescent body-related self-evaluation.