ArticleJournal of affective disorders2016
Self-perceived vs. actual physical attractiveness: Associations with depression as a function of sexual orientation.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Depression in Turner Syndrome: A Systematic Review.Archives of sexual behavior · 2020Pooled it
- Quality of Life and Body Dissatisfaction in Cisgender Men Reporting Sexual Attraction Toward Men or Women.Europe's journal of psychology · 2024Article
- Ill, but Still Attractive? The Impact of Mental Illness on Attractiveness Perceptions and Social Judgment.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Body Dissatisfaction, Cognitive Distraction, and Sexual Satisfaction in a Sample of LGB+ People: A Mediation Study Framed by Cognitive Psychology Models of Sexual Response.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Examining the Prospective Bidirectional Associations between Subjective and Objective Attractiveness and Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms and Life Satisfaction.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2023Article
- The Roles of Body Image, Sexual Motives, and Distraction in Women's Sexual Pleasure.Archives of sexual behavior · 2022Article
- Uncovering Profiles of Economic, Social, and Cultural Capital to Explore Depression Across Racial Groups.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2019Article
- Baseline Body Mass Predicts Average Depressive Symptoms over the Next Two Decades for White but Not Black Older Adults.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Sustained Obesity and Depressive Symptoms over 6 Years: Race by Gender Differences in the Health and Retirement Study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveA commonly held belief about physical attractiveness is that attractive individuals are psychologically healthier than less attractive individuals (i.e., the "beauty is good" stereotype). To date, the data on this stereotype and its relationship with depression is limited, with a paucity of literature comparing subjective and objective appearance evaluations and depressive symptoms. Additionally, there is no known research on this relationship among sexual minorities (i.e., gay and bisexual individuals), a highly vulnerable population. The primary aims of the study were to assess the prediction of depression symptoms by subjective and objective appearance evaluation, and secondary aims were to assess the interaction of subjective and objective appearance with sexual orientation.
methodParticipants were 4882 American emerging adults (M age=22 years; 2253 males, 2629 females) taken from a U.S. nationally representative dataset (Add Health)
resultsIncreased negative subjective appearance evaluation was associated with elevated rates of depressive symptoms (B=-.27, p<.001), while objective appearance evaluation was not significantly related to depressive symptoms. Sexual orientation significantly moderated the relationship between subjective appearance and depression (B=.19, p=.009), with a stronger positive association between negative appearance evaluation and depressive symptoms noted among sexual minority vs. heterosexual participants. LIMITATIONS: Limitations include cross-sectional design and self-report nature of questionnaires.
conclusionsFindings suggest that the 'beauty is good' stereotype may not be valid in regard to depressive symptoms, and that subjective appearance evaluation is a robust predictor of depression, particularly for sexual minority individuals.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.