Body Image as a Predictor of Automatic Negative Thoughts among Female University Students with Obesity

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the predictive power of body image in explaining the variance in automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and to investigate significant differences in these levels based on physical activity engagement among female students with obesity at the University of Benghazi. Utilizing a descriptive (correlational and predictive) and comparative research design, the study was conducted on a purposive sample of (66) students from the Garious campus whose Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeded 30 kg/m². Participants were selected through a comprehensive survey strategy and documentary analysis of medical records. To achieve the study objectives, the Body Image Scale (Arif, 2017) and the Automatic Negative Thoughts Scale (Al-Sabwah, 2004) were administered after verifying their psychometric properties within the Libyan environment.

The findings revealed a strong, statistically significant positive correlation at the (0.01) level between body image disturbance and the flow of negative thoughts. Body image demonstrated a high predictive power, accounting for (60.8%) of the variance as a driving variable for defeatist cognitive patterns. Furthermore, results indicated significant differences in the frequency of negative thoughts in favor of non-physically active students. This confirms the functional role of sports as a cognitive moderation mechanism that interrupts the cycle of rumination and replaces "helplessness schemas" with "competence schemas." The study concluded that body image serves as a "cognitive launching pad" that reinterprets social stimuli in favor of defeatist thoughts, necessitating the integration of joint psycho-sportive interventions to reconstruct the mental representation of the body among students with obesity