Body appreciation and happiness among high school students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the current status of body appreciation and subjective well-being among high school students, as well as to test the relationship between these two variables. The survey was conducted with 547 students aged 15-18 from Grades 10, 11, and 12, using the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) developed by Tylka and Wood-Barcalow (2015) and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO, 2024) as measurement instruments. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 through descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. The results indicated that students reported relatively high levels of body appreciation but comparatively low levels of happiness. Male students showed higher levels of both body appreciation and well-being than female students. Regarding grade differences, Grade 12 students demonstrated greater body appreciation than Grade 10 students, while students in Grades 11 and 12 reported higher well-being than those in Grade 10. Body appreciation was positively correlated with well-being and accounted for 19.1% of the variance in happiness. These findings highlight the crucial role of fostering a positive body image in enhancing students’ happiness and suggest the need to integrate school-based psychological education programs to promote mental health and holistic adolescent development.