Abstract

PINTO, Sara; VEIGA, Guida  and  CARAPETO, Maria João. Bodily experience of portuguese university students during the pandemic. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2022, vol.23, n.2, pp.583-590.  Epub Sep 30, 2022. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/22psd230230.

Examine the experience of the body during the covid-19 pandemic, regarding gender differences and its relationship with age and year of studies in university students. Moreover, we aim to analyze association between the experience of the body and the experience of the pandemic. Two hundred and eighty university students, aged 18 to 29, filled out self-report instruments on their body experience (BMI, body image dissatisfaction and interoceptive awareness) and the experience of the pandemic (concerns and impact). Females showed higher levels in some dimensions of interoceptive awareness and body image dissatisfaction. The experience of the pandemic was associated with greater awareness of bodily sensations (including their relationship to emotions). Fewer concerns about covid-19 were associated with less concern about somatic sensations, and greater impact of the pandemic was associated with more difficulty in regulating attention to bodily sensations, less confidence in the body and greater body image dissatisfaction. The experience of the covid-19 pandemic and the experience of the body showed to be related in a complex way, possibly with effects on the physical and mental health of university students.

Keywords : Interoceptive awareness; Body dissatisfaction; Covid-19; Health; Emerging adults.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )