Table 4.
Characteristics of studies that met the inclusion criteria and assessed an aspect of positive body image.
| Author (Year); Country | Sport(s) | N (% Female) | Age (SD) | Anthro/BC assessment method(s) | Anthro/BC indicator(s) | BI assessment tool(s) |
BI outcome(s) | Main findings | Risk of bias |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galli et al. (2015); USA | Various sports | 183 (0%) | 20.3 (1.7) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BPSS-R (Petrie et al., 2002); MBSRQ-AS (Cash, 2000) | Body shape and size satisfaction; overall appearance satisfaction | BMI was not correlated with body satisfaction (BPSS: r = 0.04; MBSRQ-AS: r = −0.06; p > 0.05). | Moderate |
| Godoy-Izquierdo and Díaz (2021); Spain | Soccer | 45 (100%) | 20.9 (7.5) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BAS-2 (Tylka and Wood-Barcalow, 2015a), using Spanish version (Swami et al., 2017) | Body appreciation | BMI was inversely correlated with body appreciation (r = −0.37, p < 0.05). | Low |
| Jardim et al. (2022); Brazil | Rhythmic gymnastics | 18 (100%) | 16.4 (4.0) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BES (Mendelson et al., 2001), using Brazilian version (Caetano, 2011) | Body esteem | BMI was not correlated with body esteem (r2 = − 0.403, p = 0.087). | Moderate |
| Kantanista et al. (2018); Poland | Various sports | 242 (100%) | 20.0 (4.5) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | Feelings and Attitudes towards Body Scale (part of Body Investment Scale) (Orbach and Mikulincer, 1998), using Polish version (Nalecz et al., 2012) | BI | BMI was inversely associated with body image and explained 3.6% of variance in body image (R2 = 0.036, β = −0.230, p < 0.001). | Moderate |
| Kosmidou et al. (2018); Greece | Rhythmic gymnastics | 49 (100%) | 12.4 (1.7) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BES (Mendelson et al., 2001), using Greek version | Body esteem | BMI was a significant predictor of body esteem (β = −0.09, p = 0.01) with hierarchical regression analysis, but BMI was not correlated with body esteem (r = −0.17, p > 0.05). | Moderate |
| Petrie et al. (2014); USA | Various sports | 203 (0%) | 20.3 (1.6) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BPSS-R (Petrie et al., 2002); MBSRQ-AS (Cash, 2000) | Body shape and size satisfaction; overall appearance satisfaction | BMI was inversely correlated with body satisfaction (BPSS: r = −0.22, p < 0.001; MBSRQ-AS: r = −0.18, p < 0.05). | Low |
| Soulliard et al. (2019); USA | Various sports | 79 (67%) | 19.8 (1.1) | Self-report questionnaire to inform height and weight | BMI | BAS-2 (Tylka and Wood-Barcalow, 2015a) | Body appreciation | BMI did not significantly predict body appreciation among athletes (β = −0.06, t = 0.49, p = 0.62, R2 < 0.01). | Low |
Anthro, Anthropometric; BC, Body Composition; BI, Body Image; BPSS-R, The Body Parts Satisfaction Scale-Revised; MBSRQ-AS; The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scale; FRS, Figure Rating Scale; BAS-2, The Body Appreciation Scale-2; The BES, Body Esteem Scale; BMI, Body Mass Index; PBI, Perceived Body Image; IBI, Ideal Body Image; SD, Standard Deviation.