Teenage boys who suffer from depression or have experienced bullying are more likely to use steroids than their peers.
Teenage boys who struggle with body image issues (such as thinking they are too skinny or heavy) even when they are a healthy weight are at a much greater risk of depression that carries into later life, an American Psychological Association news release reported. Boys who think they are underweight are believed to have the highest depression risk.
"These studies highlight the often underreported issue of distorted body image among adolescent boys," Aaron Blashill, PhD, staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and faculty member at Harvard Medical School, said. "Teenage girls tend to internalize and strive for a thin appearance, whereas teenage boys tend to emphasize a more muscular body type. We found that some of these boys who feel they are unable to achieve that often unattainable image are suffering and may be taking drastic measures."
The researchers looked at a group of 2,139 boys that were around the age of 16 in 1996 and were kept up with for the following 13 years.
The researchers surveyed the participants three times at six-year intervals, and asked them about their "depressive symptoms, body image perceptions" and body mass index. They asked the subjects to classify themselves in using categories such as "very underweight" and "very overweight," and compared those results with the participants' actual BMIs.
The team found that boys who perceived themselves to be "very underweight" but were actually of an average body size or higher were at the highest risk of depression out of the study sample. These results were consistent throughout the study, which ended when the participants were close to 30 years old.
A second study conducted by Blashill had similar results; the researcher believes body image-related depression could cause individuals to use steroids.
About four percent of the participants in the second study admitted to using steroids; three percent of these individuals had reported that they perceived themselves as "very underweight." Many of these boys also reported that they had been victims of bullying.
"Unfortunately, there is little evidence-based research on effective therapies for steroid use among adolescent boys," Blashill said. "However, cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be effective for body image concerns and could be helpful for boys considering using or already using steroids."
