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Body weight satisfaction among New Zealand adolescents: Findings from a national survey
Abstract
Body dissatisfaction has been extensively studied but, recently, the importance of body satisfaction and its attributing factors has received significant recognition. Also, there is an increasing awareness of the need for research examining body dissatisfaction and satisfaction in youth other than North American females. Thus, the current research examined the prevalence of, and the individual, social, and familial factors associated with, body-weight satisfaction among New Zealand male and female adolescents (n=9107). Data were analysed from Youth '07, a nationally representative survey of New Zealand secondary school students. Overall, half of students were happy with their weight, with significantly more males than females reporting body-weight satisfaction. Students happiest with their weight were most likely to report healthy and supportive social and family environments, as well as higher levels of well-being. These findings are consistent with a growing body of research that suggests creating positive peer and family environments may lead to better developmental outcomes, such as body satisfaction, and also higher levels of well-being.
... Our findings are in line with previous studies, corroborating the evidence that different factors influence body Body image, physical activity, and sedentary behavior satisfaction between girls and boys. 2,4,7,9,[16][17][18] The physical changes inherent to adolescence seem to affect females' body satisfaction more intensely. 17 A longitudinal study showed a 4% reduction in body satisfaction among girls after 2 years of follow-up, while satisfaction levels remained stable among boys. ...
... Because women are more exposed to the media, in which there is a discrepancy between the ideal presented and real bodies, this might translate into excessive selfdemands with respect to female aesthetic standards. 2,18 At the same time, an increase in muscle mass has been observed in male adolescents in this population, which brings their actual body image to the male figure idealized by the media and can thus contribute to greater bodyimage satisfaction among boys. 2 In this context, girls perform physical activities in order to lose weight/body fat, while for boys, the goal is to increase muscle mass. 21 The findings of our study reveal that active adolescents attached greater importance to body image and were less likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies, which is in line with previous studies in this population. ...
... Our findings suggest that engaging in physical activity can contribute to reduce body image dissatisfaction. This result is important, considering that studies have shown an association of body satisfaction in adolescents with higher levels of well-being, 18 higher self-esteem and lower stress levels, 26 and lower levels of depressive symptoms 16 and emotional and behavioral problems. 9 Thus, the importance of developing a healthy body image in adolescence must be emphasized due to the consequences associated with health. ...
Objective:
To evaluate the association of leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behavior with body image concern and satisfaction in Brazilian adolescents.
Methods:
Data were extracted from the 2015 Brazilian National Adolescent School-based Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar [PeNSE]). Information regarding body image concern and satisfaction, as well as exposures (physical activity and sedentary behavior) and covariates (maternal education, age, smoking, and alcohol intake), were assessed through a questionnaire.
Results:
Logistic regression analysis revealed that engagement in recommended levels of physical activity (≥ 300 min/week) was associated with a decreased concern with body image and a high satisfaction in boys. Four or more hours spent in sedentary activities were associated with increased concern with body image and dissatisfaction among boys and girls.
Conclusion:
These findings support the relevance of programs aiming to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior in the adolescent population. Such programs play a protective role against body dissatisfaction and are important for the development of a healthy body image in adolescence.
... However, another study also conducted in New Zealand found rates more than twofold higher than those described by Larson et al., 15 reporting that 61.4% of girls and 39.3% of boys were dissatisfied with their weight. 16 When analyzing the Brazilian studies, the prevalence of body weight dissatisfaction in both sexes was 56.6% in Londrina, PR, 48 Statistically significant differences in weight dissatisfaction were found in the comparison between boys and girls (p<0.01; 17 p=0.001; 18 p<0.001), ...
... 23,46,47 Other studies evaluated weight dissatisfaction using categories, such as "wants to gain weight/lose weight" (some articles stipulated cutoff points, such as >10% of current weight) and satisfaction. 20,21,[25][26][27][48][49][50][51][52][53] Some articles show weight dissatisfaction based on statements that expressed unhappiness or happiness with one's own weight 15,16,18,54 and the discrepancy between the self-evaluation of current weight and idealized weight. 22 Due to the complexity of this issue, the present study did not extract data on the associations between weight and weight dissatisfaction, nutritional status, and self-evaluation. ...
Objective:
To identify the prevalence of weight dissatisfaction among adolescents aged 10-19 years and stratify the analysis by sex.
Data source:
A literature review of cross-sectional studies among healthy adolescents was performed. The U.S. National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health (PubMed), Ovid® (Wolters Kluwer), The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and American Psychological Association (PsycINFO®) databases were searched between May 2019 and January 2020.
Data synthesis:
Initially, 3,700 records were identified, and 10 papers were obtained through other sources. After the removal of duplicates, 1,732 records were screened based on the titles and abstracts, and 126 were preselected for full-text analysis. After the application of the eligibility criteria, 34 papers were included in the present review. The studies were published between 1997 and 2020. The sample size ranged from <150 to >103,000 adolescents. The prevalence of weight dissatisfaction ranged from 18.0 to 56.6% in both sexes (10.8-82.5% among boys and 19.2-83.8% among girls).
Conclusions:
Based on the findings of the present systematic review, the prevalence of weight dissatisfaction is high among adolescents, especially girls. Such information can contribute to the planning of health and education programs addressing the issue of weight in adolescents.
... Ainda, os escolares que estavam com baixo peso demostraram-se mais satisfeitos do que os eutróficos 29 . Ao avaliar mais de nove mil alunos do ensino médio da Nova Zelândia, pesquisa revelou que 60,6% (IC95%: 59,1-62,1) dos meninos e 38,5% (IC95%: 37,2-39,9) das meninas estavam felizes com o peso, e que a satisfação corporal era maior nos segmentos que tinham amigos para conversar, amigos que se importavam com alimentação saudável e atividade física, nos que faziam as refeições junto com os familiares, nos que tinham pais que estimulavam a prática de exercícios físicos e a adoção de uma dieta saudável, e naqueles que não eram provocados pela família por causa do peso 30 . ...
Resumo O objetivo deste artigo é estimar as prevalências do estado nutricional e da insatisfação com o peso, em adolescentes de 10-19 anos. Estudo transversal de base populacional com amostra em dois estágios, realizado em Campinas, SP. O estado nutricional foi classificado pelos percentis de IMC para idade, da Organização Mundial da Saúde. A insatisfação com o peso foi obtida pelo relato dos que gostariam de ganhar ou perder peso. Calcularam-se as prevalências e os intervalos de confiança de 95% do estado nutricional e da (in)satisfação com o peso. As associações com as variáveis sociodemográficas foram verificadas pelo teste de χ2 de Rao Scott. Analisaram-se 822 adolescentes com idade média de 14,1 anos. Foram classificados com eutrofia 64,7% dos meninos e 75,4% das meninas e com excesso de peso 30,5% e 22,2%, respectivamente. Comparados aos meninos satisfeitos, 34,5% dos insatisfeitos eram eutróficos, 45,3% tinham sobrepeso e 77,1% obesidade. Comparadas às meninas satisfeitas, as insatisfeitas tinham 52,0% de eutrofia, 63,6% de sobrepeso e 75,2% de obesidade. Observaram-se elevadas prevalências de excesso de peso, principalmente nos meninos e nos mais jovens (10-14 anos), e maiores prevalências de insatisfação com o peso nas meninas e nos adolescentes de 15-19 anos.
... In a New Zealand study, Fear, Bulik and Sullivan [13] reported that 71% of adolescent girls experienced significant BD. Similarly, a New Zealand national wellness survey conducted by Wood and colleagues [14], found that 39% of adolescent girls were happy with their body, suggesting that the remaining 61% were not. Longitudinally, Neumark-Sztainer, Paxton, Hannan, Haines, and Story [15] found a strong and consistent relationship between BD and unhealthy weight control behaviors over a five-year period, even after controlling for BMI. ...
Background
Eating disorders (EDs) and their subclinical variants are important health concerns for adolescent girls, and body dissatisfaction is a more common yet often debilitating experience that typically precedes the development of an ED. Despite this fact, little is known about what makes girls who are dissatisfied with their bodies more likely to engage in pathological eating behaviors. The present study explored eating pathology among a sample of adolescent girls from New Zealand and examined a variety of established risk factors that may moderate the relationship between body dissatisfaction (BD) and eating pathology.
Methods
Adolescent girls aged between 14 and 18 (N = 231) completed questionnaires assessing eating pathology, BD, negative affect, perfectionism, self-esteem, teasing and sociocultural pressure. Regression analyses tested for moderator effects to examine which variables moderated the relationship between BD and eating pathology.
Results
The analyses indicated that high levels of socially prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism, negative affect, perceived pressure from the media, and low levels of self-esteem all strengthened the relationship between BD and eating pathology.
Conclusions
The results highlight potential factors that may make adolescent girls who are dissatisfied with their bodies more susceptible to eating pathology.
Cambridge Core - Psychology: General Interest - Abnormal Psychology in Context - by Nadine Pelling
This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across highsocioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa (ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media
exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.
Parents play an important role in the development of children's health behaviors, but less is known about the role of parental encouragement for physical activity (PA) on youth PA behavior and body image satisfaction. The purposes of this study were to: (1) longitudinally assess whether adolescent PA at age 15 mediates the effect of perceived parental encouragement for PA at age 15 for predicting adolescent body satisfaction at age 16, while controlling for body mass index (BMI), and (2) examine the extent to which adolescent sex moderates this association.
Participants were 379 boys and girls assessed at 15 and 16 years of age, who completed surveys as part of a larger longitudinal study in their health/physical education classes in a school district in Central Pennsylvania. Participants completed measures of their perception of parental encouragement for PA, PA behavior, body satisfaction, and height and weight to calculate BMI at age 15 and 16 (i.e., 10th and 11th grades). Pearson correlations were used to examine the association among the study variables and hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict body satisfaction at age 16.
Perceived encouragement for PA from fathers, but not mothers, at age 15, was significantly associated with adolescent PA at age 15 and body satisfaction scores at age 16. Adolescents reporting higher PA behavior and perceived encouragement for PA from fathers at age 15 had higher body satisfaction scores at age 16. Moreover, adolescent PA at age 15 mediated the association between perceived fathers' encouragement for PA at age 15 and adolescent body satisfaction at age 16, when controlling for BMI. Examining the moderating effect of adolescent sex on this association revealed that adolescent PA no longer mediated the association between perceived encouragement for PA from fathers and adolescent body satisfaction, and sex moderated this association.
These findings suggest that, regardless of adolescent BMI, fathers may play an instrumental role in adolescents' body image satisfaction by positively influencing PA behavior. However, the influence of perceived encouragement for PA from fathers on adolescent body satisfaction and PA behavior may differ for boys and girls.
To investigate the relationship between parents' cognitive and behavioural dimensions and the risk of eating disorders (ED) in non-clinical adolescents.
From an initial sample of 1,336 boys and girls with a mean age of 11.37, a total of 258 subjects were selected either as being at risk of ED or as controls. These subjects and their parents comprised the sample at T1 and were followed-up 2 years later (T2). We examined disordered eating attitudes, body dissatisfaction (BD), body mass index (BMI) and ED diagnoses in the adolescents at two points in time. We also used the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 to examine the disordered eating attitudes of their parents at T1.
The mother's BD, drive for thinness (DT), ineffectiveness and interoceptive awareness, and the father's DT and perfectionism were related to long-term ED. Logistic regression showed that predictors of ED were being female, mother's DT and social insecurity, and adolescent's BD. The BMI was not a predictor in this model. Father's perfectionism was a risk factor of ED.
Specific cognitive and behavioural dimensions of ED in both parents can influence the development of an ED in early adolescents. This should be taken into account in the prevention and family oriented treatment of ED.
In the last 20 years, researchers have been using computer self-administered questionnaires to gather data on a wide range of adolescent health related behaviours. More recently, researchers collecting data in schools have started to use smaller hand-held computers for their ease of use and portability. The aim of this study is to describe a new technology with wi-fi enabled hand-held internet tablets and to compare adolescent preferences of laptop computers or hand-held internet tablets in administering a youth health and well-being questionnaire in a school setting.
A total of 177 students took part in a pilot study of a national youth health and wellbeing survey. Students were randomly assigned to internet tablets or laptops at the start of the survey and were changed to the alternate mode of administration about half-way through the questionnaire. Students at the end of the questionnaire were asked which of the two modes of administration (1) they preferred, (2) was easier to use, (3) was more private and confidential, and (4) was easier to answer truthfully.
Many students expressed no preference between laptop computers or internet tablets. However, among the students who expressed a preference between laptop computers or internet tablets, the majority of students found the internet tablets more private and confidential (p < 0.001) and easier to answer questions truthfully (p < 0.001) compared to laptop computers.
This study demonstrates that using wi-fi enabled hand-held internet tablets is a feasible methodology for school-based surveys especially when asking about sensitive information.
The relative influence of adolescents closest friends and their friendship group on their cigarette smoking and alcohol use was investigated in a short-term, longitudinal study of 1,028 students in the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades in 2 school systems. The amount of influence over the school year was modest in magnitude and came from the closest friend for initiation of cigarette and alcohol use. Only the friendship group use predicted transition into current cigarette use, whereas only the close friend use predicted transition into current alcohol use. Both group and close friends independently contributed to the prediction of adolescents' drinking to intoxication. No difference in the amount of influence, was found between stable and unstable close friendships or friendship groups; neither grade nor gender of the adolescents related to the amount of influence.
This study investigated prospective risk factors for increases in body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys in the Eating Among Teens Project. At the time of first assessment (Time 1), participants were a cohort of early adolescent girls (N=440) and boys (N=366) and a cohort of middle adolescent girls (N=946) and boys (N=764). Participants were followed up 5 years later (Time 2). Potential prospective risk factors examined included body mass index, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, parent dieting environment, peer environment, and psychological factors. Predictors of Time 2 body dissatisfaction were Time 1 body dissatisfaction, body mass index, socioeconomic status, being African American, friend dieting and teasing, self-esteem, and depression. However, the profile of predictors differed across the samples.
This research examined whether body dissatisfaction prospectively predicted depressive mood and low self-esteem in adolescent girls and boys 5 years later. Participants were early-adolescent girls (n = 440, Time 1 M age = 12.7 years) and boys (n = 366, Time 1 M age = 12.8 years) and midadolescent girls (n = 946, Time 1 M age = 15.8 years) and boys (n = 764, Time 1 M age = 15.9 years). After controlling for Time 1 of the relevant dependent variable, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and body mass index, Time 1 body dissatisfaction was a unique predictor of Time 2 depressive mood and low self-esteem in early-adolescent girls (depressive mood: F = 4.80, p < .05; self-esteem: F = 9.64, p < .01) and midadolescent boys (depressive mood: F = 12.27, p < .001; self-esteem: F = 9.38, p < .01) but not in early-adolescent boys or midadolescent girls. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that body dissatisfaction is a risk factor for depressive mood and low self-esteem in both girls and boys but in different phases of adolescence.
This study examined motivation (prosocial goals), individual characteristics (sex, ethnicity, and grade), and friendship characteristics (affective quality, interaction frequency, and friendship stability) in relation to middle adolescents' prosocial behavior over time. Ninth- and 10th-grade students (N = 208) attending a suburban, mid-Atlantic public high school and having at least 1 reciprocated friendship were followed for 1 year. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that a friend's behavior is related to an individual's prosocial goal pursuit, which in turn, is related to an individual's prosocial behavior. Further, the affective quality of a friendship and the frequency with which friends interact moderate relations of a friend's prosocial behavior to an individual's prosocial goal pursuit.
This article explores the recent approach to youth research and practice that has been called positive youth development. The author makes the case that the approach grew out of dissatisfaction with a predominant view that underestimated the true capacities of young people by focusing on their deficits rather than their developmental potentials. The article examines three areas of research that have been transformed by the positive youth approach: the nature of the child; the interaction between the child and the community; and moral growth. It concludes with the point that positive youth development does not simply mean an examination of anything that appears to be beneficial for young people. Rather, it is an approach with strong defining assumptions about what is important to look at if we are to accurately capture the full potential of all young people to learn and thrive in the diverse settings where they live.
Actual similarity on a variety of attributes (sociodemographic, background characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors) was investigated in a large sample of friendship pairs among high school boys (773 Ss) and girls (1,166 Ss). The data were collected through structured, self-administered questionnaires in classrooms. Similarity varied on different attributes. It was highest on sociodemographic characteristics and on behaviors, especially the use of illicit drugs, and lowest on psychological factors, selected attitudes, and reported quality of relationships with parents. The patterns were the same for boys and girls. It is suggested that findings tend to support the conclusions that similarity on personality characteristics is a relatively unimportant correlate of friendship in adolescence. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present study examined perceived family and peer influences on body dissatisfaction, weight loss, and binge eating behaviors in adolescents. Three hundred and six girls aged 11 to 17 years (M = 13.66, SD = 1.12) and 297 boys aged 11 to 18 years (M = 13.89, SD = 1.13) completed a questionnaire that examined the direct influence and quality of family and peer relationships on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Direct influences of family and peers, rather than the quality of these relationships, predicted body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adolescent boys and girls. Interesting differences were found between girls and boys in the nature of the influences and in the way they were expressed. In particular, parental and peer discussion and encouragement of weight loss predicted disordered eating behaviors in girls, while maternal and peer encouragement predicted binge eating and weight loss behaviors in boys. Fathers played a salient role in the expression of more severe forms of eating problems, while siblings played a small yet significant role in cognitive restraint among girls. The findings highlight gender differences in the importance of significant others in the expression of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adolescence.
Body dissatisfaction and body image disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in developing non-Western countries such as China, but there is a lack of research examining the sociocultural factors that in other contexts have been associated with these problems. The current study investigated body dissatisfaction, engagement in body change behaviors, and sociocultural pressures on body image, and the relationships between these variables among 517 adolescent males (N=219) and females (N=298) in China. Females reported greater body dissatisfaction than males, and males reported using strategies to increase their muscle bulk more often than females. Males reported pressure from a variety of sociocultural sources to increase their muscles or weight, while females reported pressure from the media to lose weight. For males body dissatisfaction was predicted by pressure from peers to increase their muscle bulk, while for females pressure to lose weight from peers, adult relatives, and the media was likely to increase body dissatisfaction. Pressure from the media and adult relatives was also predictive of body change behaviors in both males and females. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research in both Western and non-Western contexts.
The purpose of this paper was to review the existing literature regarding the contribution of parental influences to the sociocultural pressures on body image disturbance and disordered eating so as to highlight principal findings so that parents can be given practical information and identify areas that require further research.
Relevant articles were located through Pubmed, Sciencedirect and PsychInfo, as well as the screening of bibliographies.
The available data suggest that parents are strong communicators of sociocultural pressures. Parental influences via verbal messages and active encouragement have been shown to have more impact on offspring's body concerns and eating behaviours than modelling effects. Both mothers and fathers are important sources of influence for their offspring.
Considering the role of parents could help improve public health management. Futher exploration of the way adolescents and young adults interpret and perceive parental attitudes and of potential protective factors is necessary.
Background:
Overweight and obesity as well as weight dissatisfaction have been increasing in prevalence worldwide. Body weight dissatisfaction and fear of fatness are potential contributors to disordered eating. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of self-reported overweight and weight dissatisfaction along with associations with socio-demographic characteristics, body image, health complaints, risk behaviours, physical activity and television viewing in adolescents in Palestine.
Methods:
The 2003/04 Palestinian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-sectional survey of 17,817 adolescents from 405 randomly selected schools. Students from a representative sample of grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 (aged 12-18 years) self-completed a modified version of the international World Health Organization collaborative Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC-2002) questionnaire.
Results:
Although 16.5% of the adolescents were overweight, almost twice that number (32.1%) were dissatisfied with their weight (i.e. dieting or perceiving a need to diet). Of those adolescents, two-thirds were not actually overweight (56.4% boys; 73.5% girls). One-fifth of the total number of adolescents (16.0% boys; 24.0% girls) were not overweight but were dissatisfied with their weight. Boys reporting overweight or weight dissatisfaction were more likely to have mothers with higher education or to be from more affluent families. Among both genders, but especially among girls, weight dissatisfaction was positively associated with most of the outcome variables (body image, health complaints, risk behaviours, and television viewing) regardless of weight status, whereas weight status was associated with only a few of the outcome variables.
Conclusions:
Weight dissatisfaction, independent of weight status, is associated with body image, health complaints, risk behaviours and television viewing, and represents a potential health risk factor for adolescents. Preventive interventions should focus not only on weight status, but also on body weight dissatisfaction.
To examine body size perceptions in a group of Polynesians from the Cook Islands and compare these with perceptions of Australians of European decent.
Residents of Tutakimoa village on the island of Rarotonga, Cook Islands completed a questionnaire on body size perception (83 females, 49 males, 80% response rate). The responses were compared with the same number of Australian subjects who were matched for sex, age and body mass index (BMI). Culturally appropriate, graded sets of photographs (one female and one male for each ethnic group) were used as the stimuli for questions on body perception.
Cook Islands women were the most accurate in their perception of their current size; other groups overestimated. All groups preferred to be smaller, particularly women, with similar preferences (BMI 23-24) in women of both ethnic groups. Cook Islands subjects chose larger ideal sizes than Australians for both females (BMI 24.4 vs 22.5) and males (BMI 27 vs 24.2).
The traditional Polynesian concepts of very large body sizes being considered healthy and attractive are not evident in the modern day Cook Islanders. The excessive pursuit of western fashions for small female body size may have longer term detrimental effects in Polynesian women.
This study examined the prevalence of body dissatisfaction as a function of individual level and neighbourhood level indicators of affluence.
A subset of data from a larger random digit dialling telephone survey was used to obtain individual level data on body dissatisfaction, body weight and height, and income from a group of 895 adult women (age 24-56, 61% English speaking) living in 52 neighbourhoods (census tract areas) within the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, Canada who were selected for their heterogeneity in social class.
Aggregated census tract data from 1996 were used to develop neighbourhood indicators of affluence. Using hierarchical linear modelling, body dissatisfaction (dichotomous) was examined as a function of individual body mass index, individual level affluence and neighbourhood level affluence.
The impact of body mass index on body dissatisfaction depended on the level of neighbourhood affluence: an average body mass index was associated with higher likelihood of reporting body dissatisfaction in a neighbourhood of above average affluence (71% probability) than in a neighbourhood of average affluence (58% probability), independent of a woman's individual affluence (whether she was low income or not).
It is concluded that a clearer understanding of the role of affluence on body dissatisfaction can be achieved by a joint examination of individual and neighbourhood level influences.
The present study examines the patterns of body dissatisfaction during adolescence in order to determine whether girls enter onto trajectories of body dissatisfaction that are associated with eating and depressive symptoms during adolescence and in young adulthood.
Body dissatisfaction was studied in 120 adolescent girls drawn from a normal population of students enrolled in private schools in a major metropolitan area. They were seen at three times over an 8-year period (mean ages = 14.3, 16.0, and 22.3).
Recurrent body dissatisfaction during adolescence was associated with earlier pubertal maturation and elevated depressive and eating symptoms in young adulthood compared with girls who maintained positive body images during adolescence. Concurrent body dissatisfaction was also a correlate of greater depressed affect and eating symptoms at the time these girls experienced body dissatisfaction.
Findings suggest that adolescent body dissatisfaction has consequences for affect in adulthood.
Theoretical issues pertinent to a dynamic, developmental systems understanding of positive youth development and the thriving process in such development are discussed. Thriving involves relative plasticity in human development and adaptive regulations of person-context relations. An integrated moral and civic identity and a commitment to society beyond the limits of one's own existence enable thriving youth to be agents both in their own, healthy development and in the positive enhancement of other people and of society. Thriving youth become generative adults through the progressive enhancement of behaviors that are valued in their specific culture and that reflect the universal structural value of contributing to civil society.
Verbal harassment, such as bullying and hate speech, has received considerable attention recently, but less is known about weight-based teasing and its potential harmful effects on young people's psychosocial well-being.
To determine the associations of weight-based teasing and body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts using a large sample of adolescents.
Secondary analysis of survey and anthropometric data.
Ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities in the urban and suburban school districts of the Minneapolis/St Paul metropolitan area.
A school-based sample of 4746 adolescents in grades 7 to 12 at 31 public middle schools and high schools.
Weight-based teasing from peers or family members, body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.
Of the eligible students, 81.5% participated; 30.0% of adolescent girls and 24.7% of adolescent boys were teased by peers, and 28.7% of adolescent girls and 16.1% of adolescent boys were teased by family members. Approximately 14.6% of adolescent girls and 9.6% of adolescent boys reported teasing from both of these sources. Teasing about body weight was consistently associated with low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, high depressive symptoms, and thinking about and attempting suicide, even after controlling for actual body weight. These associations held for adolescent boys and girls, across racial, ethnic, and weight groups. Furthermore, teasing from 2 sources was associated with a higher prevalence of emotional health problems than either teasing from a single source or no teasing.
Physicians and other health care providers should recognize the importance of weight-based teasing for young patients. Policy, programs, and education should focus on increasing awareness of what constitutes weight-based teasing, its potentially harmful effects on adolescents' emotional well-being, and reduction of this behavior.
This longitudinal study of adolescent girls and boys examined the contributions of social (peer appearance context), psychological (internalized appearance ideals and appearance social comparison), and biological (body mass) factors to the development of body dissatisfaction. Students (165 girls and 139 boys) completed questionnaires when they were either in 7th grade or 10th grade and again 1 year later. The results for the boys revealed a singular pathway to body dissatisfaction through internalized commitment to muscularity ideals. The prospective analyses of change in body dissatisfaction among the girls reflected the contributions of appearance conversations with friends, appearance social comparisons, and body mass. There was no evidence of mediation among the boys and limited support for it among the girls.
Despite evidence that body dissatisfaction predicts the onset of eating pathology and depression, few prospective studies have investigated predictors of body dissatisfaction.
We examined risk factors for body dissatisfaction using prospective data from 531 adolescent boys and girls.
Elevations in body mass, negative affect, and perceived pressure to be thin from peers, but not thin-ideal internalization, social support deficits, or perceived pressure to be thin from family, dating partners, or media, predicted increases in body dissatisfaction. Gender moderated the effect of body mass on body dissatisfaction and revealed a significant quadratic component for boys, but not girls. Gender also moderated negative affect.
Results support the assertion that certain sociocultural, biologic, and interpersonal factors increase the risk for body dissatisfaction, but differ for boys and girls. Results provided little support for other accepted risk factors for body dissatisfaction.
The present study examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, body dissatisfaction, and eating behaviours of 10- to 18-year-old children and adolescents. The study participants (N = 768) were categorised as Caucasian (74.7%), Chinese or Vietnamese (18.2%), and Italian or Greek (7.0%), and high (82%), middle (8.6%), and low SES (9.4%) according to parents' occupations. The chi(2), Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression model were used to determine the interaction between variables. Females and older participants were more likely to desire a body figure that was thinner than their perceived current figure. Furthermore, the same groups were also more likely to be preoccupied with eating problems (females 7.1% vs. males 1.4%; for participants aged 15-18 years, 7.8% vs. participants aged 10-14 years, 3.9%). The body dissatisfaction gender difference was females 42.8% vs. males 11.8%, and participants aged 15-18 years 41.7% vs. those aged 10-14 years, 28.3%. Participants whose parents were managers/professionals were more likely to desire a body figure that was thinner than their perceived current figure than those from white-collar and blue-collar families. This was also the case for Caucasian Australians compared to those from Chinese or Vietnamese backgrounds. In conclusion, age and gender differences in body image and problems in eating behaviour were evident among children and adolescents. However, there was no significant SES and ethnic difference in the proportion of participants with eating problems and body dissatisfaction.
Friends are presumed to exert a substantial influence on young people's drinking patterns. The current study focused on the effects of the best friend's drinking behaviour on the alcohol consumption of 12-14-year-old adolescents. Furthermore, we hypothesized friendship characteristics (i.e., reciprocity and sociometric status differences) to moderate the extent in which adolescents had been influenced by their best friends. Longitudinal data of 1276 adolescents and their best friends were used to examine whether the adolescent's friend's drinking behaviour, reciprocity of the friendship, and status differences between friends affected the magnitude of change in the adolescent's drinking behaviour. The findings showed that best friend's drinking behaviour is related to adolescent's drinking both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Cross-sectionally, this association was particularly strong between mutual friends and friends with lower status. In longitudinal analyses, a different picture emerged. Respondents were most likely to adopt their friend's drinking behaviour when it was a unilateral friend with a higher status.
The purpose of this study was 2-fold: (1) to determine the prevalence of high body satisfaction in a multi-ethnic, urban population of adolescent females, and (2) to examine the demographic, socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral factors associated with high body satisfaction among adolescent girls.
The study population included 2,357 female middle and high school students who completed surveys in 1998-1999. High body satisfaction and its association with a range of socioenvironmental, personal, and behavioral factors were assessed. Associations were examined through comparisons of means (unadjusted and adjusted for grade level, race, socioeconomic status, and body mass index [BMI]) for continuous variables, and percentages and odds ratios for dichotomized variables.
Over a quarter (26.7%) of adolescent girls reported high body satisfaction. High body satisfaction was most common among African-American (40.1%) and underweight girls (39.0%). In adjusted analyses, girls with high body satisfaction were more likely to report parental and peer attitudes that encouraged healthy eating and exercising to be fit (p < .001) versus dieting, and less likely to report personal weight-related concerns and behaviors (p < .001).
The immediate subculture in which adolescent girls exist may play an important role in fostering high body satisfaction. Parents and health care providers often struggle with how to address the topic of weight management in teens without causing further injury to body image. Findings from the present study suggest the importance of providing a social environment that focuses on health and fitness, rather than on weight control, to increase adolescent girls' likelihood of being satisfied with their bodies.
This study examined motivation (prosocial goals), individual characteristics (sex, ethnicity, and grade), and friendship characteristics (affective quality, interaction frequency, and friendship stability) in relation to middle adolescents' prosocial behavior over time. Ninth- and 10th-grade students (N = 208) attending a suburban, mid-Atlantic public high school and having at least 1 reciprocated friendship were followed for 1 year. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that a friend's behavior is related to an individual's prosocial goal pursuit, which in turn, is related to an individual's prosocial behavior. Further, the affective quality of a friendship and the frequency with which friends interact moderate relations of a friend's prosocial behavior to an individual's prosocial goal pursuit.
Sociocultural factors that underpin gender differences in body dissatisfaction have not frequently been explored. We examined the relative contribution of internalization of media body ideals and perceived pressure to achieve this ideal in explaining body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls. A sample of 819 boys and 791 girls completed measures of internalization of body ideals, perceived pressure, body mass index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction. As expected, girls showed higher body dissatisfaction, internalization and pressure than boys. Internalization, pressure and BMI contributed to the prediction of body dissatisfaction in boys and in girls although these variables explained less variance in body dissatisfaction in boys. In addition, for girls the strongest predictor of body dissatisfaction was internalization, whilst for boys the strongest predictor was pressure. Differences in extent of internalization and pressure may contribute to higher body dissatisfaction in girls than boys. These sociocultural factors may affect girls and boys differently.
This study examined whether rural adolescents would report gender and ethnic differences in body image similar to those that have been observed in urban samples. Data were analyzed for 384 rural adolescents (57% African American, 43% Caucasian, mean age 13 years) to determine gender and ethnic differences in body dissatisfaction, body size discrepancy, and current and ideal figure ratings. Females wanted to be smaller and reported more body dissatisfaction than did males. Caucasian females reported the most body dissatisfaction. African Americans reported larger current and ideal figure ratings than did Caucasians. African Americans preferred larger opposite sex figures than did Caucasians. Both African American and Caucasian males selected a larger female figure as ideal than was selected by females. Results demonstrated that gender and ethnic differences exist in body image for rural adolescents. This frequently overlooked population may benefit from further study. Implications of findings and limitations of the study are also discussed.
This study examined prospective associations between 10-year-olds' weight and height, their perception of shape and stature, frequent experiences of peer victimization, and different aspects of body esteem at age 13. Participants were 474 girls and 400 boys participating in a two-wave longitudinal questionnaire study. Main results were that whereas actually being heavier built at age 10 was associated with girls' increments in body dissatisfaction, the mere perception of being too heavy was associated with boys' poorer body satisfaction. Also, boys who believed that they were too short were more dissatisfied at follow-up. Whereas frequent peer victimization had long-term associations with girls' weight-esteem, teasing targeted towards appearance was associated with boys' more negative beliefs about what others think about their appearance. Finally, participants had become significantly more dissatisfied at age 13, suggesting that this is a time in life when both girls and boys risk becoming increasingly critical towards their appearance.
Research on body image has primarily been conducted among Western women who highly value the thin ideal body size. There has been limited research that has examined body image attitudes among Fijian adolescent girls who are exposed to both traditional sociocultural pressures that promote a larger body size and Western pressures that promote slimness. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews, we examined the factors associated with body image attitudes and concerns among a sample of 16 indigenous Fijian and 16 European Australian adolescent girls aged between 13-18 years. An inductive analysis of girls' responses indicated that both groups of girls experienced body image concerns including body dissatisfaction, a preference for thinness and concerns associated with weight gain. These findings have implications for our understanding of the role of culture in shaping body image among girls and may prove useful in the development of future survey research that can be implemented among both Fijian and Western adolescents.
Sociocultural theories of body image suggest that body dissatisfaction results from unrealistic societal beauty ideals, and one way of transmitting these ideals is through the mass media. The present research aimed to examine the effect of exposure to images of idealized beauty in the media on adolescent girls' and boys' body image. The participants (595 adolescents) viewed television commercials containing either images of the thin ideal for women, images of the muscular ideal for men, or non-appearance television commercials. Body dissatisfaction was measured before and after commercial viewing. It was found that exposure to idealized commercials led to increased body dissatisfaction for girls but not for boys. Idealized commercials led to increased negative mood and appearance comparison for girls and boys, although the effect on appearance comparison was stronger for girls. Further, participants high on appearance investment reported greater appearance comparison after viewing idealized commercials than those less strongly invested in their appearance. The results suggest the immediate impact of the media on body image is both stronger and more normative for girls than for boys, but that some boys may also be affected.
We examined the influence of thin ideal internalization on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Mexican girls.
We sampled 137 public school girls aged 12-15 from a small city in Mexico. Participants were given Spanish versions of the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance scale, two measures of body dissatisfaction, the eating attitudes test, and the attitudinal familism scale.
Thin ideal internalization mediated the relationship between thin ideal awareness and body dissatisfaction, and the relationship between thin ideal awareness and eating disorder symptoms. Attitudinal familism was negatively correlated with thin ideal internalization for girls outside of the normal weight range.
Mexican girls are at risk of eating disorder symptoms, and there is support for the sociocultural model of disordered eating in this population. Hispanic family values may mark protection from thin ideal internalization in Mexican girls outside of the normal weight range.