How Appearance‐Related Avoidance Relates to Anxiety in Early Adolescence: Evidence from Longitudinal Analyses

ABSTRACT Research on appearance‐related avoidance behaviors and their links to anxiety in early adolescence is limited. This study used three‐wave data across one academic year to examine how appearance‐related avoidance behaviors (assessed at Wave 1) predict anxiety symptoms (measured at Waves 1–3) using zero‐inflated negative binomial (ZINB) mixed‐effects growth models. Participants included 1426 adolescents ( M age = 12.2; 45.9% girls, 44.4% boys, 9.6% another gender; racially/ethnically diverse). Appearance‐related avoidance predicted both higher baseline anxiety and changes in anxiety over time, indicating a weaker increase in anxiety across waves among adolescents reporting higher avoidance. No gender or race/ethnicity differences were found in these associations. These findings highlight the relevance of appearance‐related avoidance in adolescent anxiety.