Biomaterial Database

Body piercing, tattooing, self-esteem, and body investment in adolescent girls. 2002

Lynne Carroll, and Roxanne Anderson

Counselor Education Program, Schultz Hall, University of North Florida, 4567 St. Johns Bluff Road, South, Jacksonville, Florida 32224, USA. lcarroll@unf.edu

Postmodern perspectives of body piercing and tattooing interpret these as signifiers of the self and attempts to attain mastery and control over the body in an age of increasing alienation. In this exploratory study, 79 adolescent females, ages 15 to 18 (M = 16.08, SD = 1.36), completed the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI; Coopersmith, 1981), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, 1978), the Body Investment Scale (BIS; Orbach & Mikulincer, 1998), and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2; Spielberger, 1996). Analyses revealed that body piercings and tattoos were significantly correlated with trait anger (Angry Reaction subscale scores). A multiple regression analysis indicated that three of the dependent variables (Trait Anger-Reaction, BDI, and Feeling subscale of the BIS) were predictors of the total number of body piercings and tattoos.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D001828	Body Image	Individuals' concept of their own bodies.	Body Identity,Body Representation,Body Schema,Body Images,Body Representations,Body Schemas,Identity, Body,Image, Body,Representation, Body,Schema, Body
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000294	Adolescent Behavior	Any observable response or action of an adolescent.	Behavior, Adolescent,Adolescent Behaviors,Behaviors, Adolescent
D012649	Self Concept	Persons' view of themselves.	Self Esteem,Self Perception,Self Confidence,Self-Perception,Concept, Self,Confidence, Self,Esteem, Self,Perception, Self,Perceptions, Self,Self Esteems,Self Perceptions,Self-Perceptions
D012652	Self Mutilation	The act of injuring one's own body to the extent of cutting off or permanently destroying a limb or other essential part of a body.	Autotomy Human,Self Mutilating Behavior,Autotomy Humans,Behavior, Self Mutilating,Mutilating Behavior, Self,Mutilation, Self,Self Mutilating Behaviors
D013653	Tattooing	The indelible marking of TISSUES, primarily SKIN, by pricking it with NEEDLES to imbed various COLORING AGENTS. Tattooing of the CORNEA is done to colorize LEUKOMA spots.	Tattoo,Tattoos