Muscle Dysmorphia: Predictive and protective factors in adolescents

Abstract

 The Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a subcategory of body dysmorphic disorder in which subjects develop a pathological concern for their musculature. The population at risk that suffers from, or can develop MD, prevails in terms of age of appearance in subjects between 16 to 35 years; and it is more frequent in men. This study aimed to determine which variables of the personality, gender identity and passion (harmonious or obsessive) allow to predict MD in adolescents through the Adonis Complex (AC) Scale. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 506 subjects between 16 and 21 years (M=18.20; SD=1.72). The higher correlation was between AC and Emotional Control in men, and impulse control in women. Then a binary logistic regression analysis was performed and model yielded R2=.176 (X2=47.95 (16) <.001) and classified correctly in 88.5% of cases. Results of the analysis showed that harmonious passion (β=-.028, p=.046) and emotional control (β=-.616, p=.002) are protective variables while obsessive passion (β =.065, p=.013) and scrupulosity (β =.344, p=.046) were risk factors. The results show the importance of performing interventions aimed at the prevention of DM, starting from the relevance of working emotional control and harmonious passion in this stage of life and training. Keywords: Vigorexia, Adonis Complex, Body Dimorphic Disorder.