Social anxiety stemming from acne or other skin conditions might keep people from exercising, say results of a survey of 50 adults selected from an acne support group.
Exercise is important for overall health and skin health, but data from previous studies have shown that people are often inclined to avoid participating in sports and other activities because of anxiety about their appearance.
To examine the link between skin-related social anxiety and the intention to play sports or exercise, Tom Loney, a Ph.D. student at the University of Bath (England) and his colleagues surveyed 20 men and 30 women with an average age of 33 years (J. Health Psychol. 2008;13:47–54).
The participants responded to questionnaires that addressed dermatologic social anxiety, intention to participate in sports and exercise, self-esteem, and quality of life related to skin conditions.
Based on responses to dermatologic social anxiety statements such as, “When in a bathing suit, I often feel nervous about the appearance of my skin,” the average score was 3.97 on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely).
The average score for intent-to-exercise statements such as “I am determined to exercise/play sport at least three times a week during the next month” was 4.04 on a scale of 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely). For self-esteem statements such as “I feel that I have a number of good qualities,” the average response was 1.56 on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree).
Finally, the average score on the Dermatology Life Quality Index, which includes 10 items such as, “Over the last week, how much has your skin affected any social or leisure activities?” was 0.99 on a scale of 3 (very much) to 0 (not at all).
Statistical analyses of the responses yielded significant negative relationships between skin-related social anxiety and each of three variables: intention to exercise, self-esteem, and dermatologic-related quality of life.
“Participants who experience greater levels of skin-related social anxiety report lower intention to participate in sport and exercise, experience lower self-esteem,” and have a poorer quality of life related to skin conditions, Mr. Loney and his associates wrote.
The extent to which people are apprehensive about having their skin evaluated by others has implications for the intention to participate in sports and exercise and for self-perception, but more studies are needed to determine the impact of skin-related social anxiety within specific sports and exercise settings, they said. For example, team sports or group exercise settings might cause more anxiety than exercising alone, and people with high skin-related social anxiety might avoid those situations.
Although the results were limited by the use of a global perception of acne severity rather than symptom-specific ratings, the data support findings from previous studies and contribute to the limited field of research involving both physical and psychological health, Mr. Loney and his colleagues said. None of the researchers disclosed any conflicts of interest.