The Predictors of Body Image Dissatisfaction among Undergraduate Students at the United States International University (USIU), Nairobi, Kenya

Utilizing a sample of 114 undergraduate students studying at the United States International University-Africa, this study analyzed the factors that impacted on body image dissatisfaction among young adults in Kenya. The study was anchored on the specific objectives to measure the level of body image dissatisfaction, investigate the presence of the negative consequences of body image dissatisfaction among undergraduate students, test for the effects of individual and socio-cultural factors on body image dissatisfaction, and to assess for gender differences in the predictors of body image dissatisfaction. A quantitative design was utilized for the study. Data were collected through a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed utilizing the SPSS software version 24 with beta (β) coefficients as the main test statistic. The results showed that those studied had low levels of both body image consciousness and dissatisfaction and that, overall, they were free from the negative consequences of body image dissatisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that, further showed that only 4 of 8 individual factors, none of the socio-cultural factors and only 1 of 4 control variables evaluated were significant predictors of body image dissatisfaction. The regression model explained 72.1 percent of the variance in body image dissatisfaction. Analysis along gender lines revealed that while some of the same factors were significant predictors of body image dissatisfaction for both males and females, some differences existed in how the various factors impacted on the body image dissatisfaction of the two sexes. The explained variance for males was 81.1 percent while that for females was 66.6 percent. It was concluded that, among others, the factors that have been utilized as predictors of body image dissatisfaction in Western countries also apply to the Kenyan situation.