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Parental Attitudes, Body Image Disturbance and Disordered Eating Amongst Adolescents and Young Adults: A Review
Abstract
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.
... Parents, as primary socializing agents in young children's lives, play a pivotal role in children's body image development. As suggested in Rodgers and Chabrol's (2009) review, parents may place emphasis on, and become preoccupied with, their children's body size and weight, which can bring children to place greater value upon their appearance. Parents may also model their own dissatisfaction through their behaviors (e.g., restricting food and making negative comments about their own body), which can subsequently be internalized by their children (Haines et al., 2008;Hart & Chow, 2020). ...
... This perception can not only impact the way a parent feels about themself, but also their dietary and body image-related parental practices, as well as their interactions with their child (Pedroso et al., 2018;Webb & Haycraft, 2019). Given that parents play such an important role in children's body image development (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009), dyadic effects could inform future research on the impact of child-driven influences on parental practices, subsequently informing parent-focused interventions aimed at improving body image dissatisfaction in families. ...
... Many school-aged children engage in body comparison and experience body image-related difficulties Dion et al., 2016). Children are also less likely to have experienced other major sources of body image influence such as social media and romantic relationships (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009), making parents an important factor in their life. It is therefore crucial that we investigate parent-child effects on body image dissatisfaction at a younger age to further understand body image development within the familial context. ...
The present study investigated the influence of parent and child-driven effects on body image dissatisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The moderating effect of parents' acceptance of the COVID-19 pandemic and child gender were also investigated. The participants were 175 Canadian parents (mothers = 87.4%, fathers = 12%, unspecified = 0.6%) of children aged between 7 and 12 years old (M = 9.2; boys = 48.9%, girls = 51.1%). Two cohorts of parents were asked to complete a questionnaire in June 2020 and January 2021, respectively, followed by a second questionnaire approximately five months later. At both time points, the questionnaires addressed the parents' body image dissatisfaction and acceptance of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, parents reported on their child's body image dissatisfaction at both time points. Path analysis models were used to examine parent-driven and child-driven effects. Parents' acceptance of the pandemic significantly moderated both parent and child-driven effects such that parents with low levels of acceptance were more likely to negatively influence, and be negatively influenced by, their perception of their child's body image dissatisfaction. Child gender significantly moderated child-driven effects, as mothers' perception of their son's body image dissatisfaction predicted their own dissatisfaction over time. Our findings suggest that child-driven effects should be considered in future studies on body image dissatisfaction.
... In Anglosphere countries, racial discrimination and Fig. 1 The Tripartite Influence model of body image and eating disturbance, adapted from Burke et al. [7] and Schaefer et al. [8] 11:4 systemic racism represent potent challenges that Asian parents strive to protect their children from, Hence, familial pressures such as parental criticism and achievement pressures are employed by immigrant Asian parents to encourage their children's conformity to specific behaviours which guarantee their future success and social mobility [15][16][17]. However, parental criticism and familial achievement orientation have classically been related to disordered eating in White-focused studies [18,19]. The onset of EDs most commonly occur in adolescence, meaning school and university-aged Asians are a vulnerable group to eating pathology [20]. ...
... Parental criticism has traditionally been correlated with disordered eating in the literature [19], particularly with bulimia [87,88]. In Asian cultures, parental criticism is culturally normative where it is employed in families to promote behaviour change in children [84,89]. ...
... Yu and Perez focused specifically on maternal criticism of appearance and weight, demonstrating a significant association with disordered eating. This aligned with previous studies where active parental criticism centred on body shape or size were predictive of disordered eating [19,90], along with studies indicating maternal pressures are more potent in influencing eating behaviours [90,91]. Similarly, Chang, Yu and Lin, also identified by this systematic review, found parental criticism framed as a direct influence on dieting and weight loss was significantly associated with eating pathology in Asian-American college students [48]. ...
Background:
There is no clear consensus on the specific familial pressures affecting Asian students in the Anglosphere, despite the validation of the Tripartite Influence model of eating disturbances in this group. However, traditional familial risk factors for disordered eating can be elevated for immigrant Asians with collectivistic-oriented familial dynamics, necessitating an examination of the culture-specific risk profile for eating pathology in student-aged Asians. This systematic review aims to consolidate and critically examine the literature on the most widely studied familial pressures related to disordered eating in Asian students in the Anglosphere.
Methods:
A systematic search was conducted in five databases for peer-reviewed articles measuring familial pressures and eating pathology in Asian students > 10 years old from an Anglosphere country. Following PRISMA guidelines, papers were screened by title, abstract and full text based on the eligibility criteria. Eligible studies were qualitatively analysed and synthesised narratively to assess the relationship between familial pressures and eating pathology.
Results:
In total, 14 papers were eligible for inclusion in the review. Eight topics related to familial stressors were identified (1) intergenerational conflict; (2) lack of familial cohesion; (3) parental overprotection; (4) low parental care; (5) familial achievement orientation; (6) parental expectations; (7) parental criticism; and (8) direct parental influence. In multiple studies, intergenerational conflict, maternal overprotection, and familial achievement orientation were significantly elevated and associated with disordered eating in US and UK Asian students, compared to white students. The studies examining parental criticism and familial cohesion had more heterogeneous findings.
Conclusion:
The findings demonstrate the perception of Asian parenting styles as overprotective and incompatible with individualist-oriented Western values could increase eating pathology in adolescent and university students living in Anglosphere countries. The synthesised findings of the literature also indicate disordered eating acts as a compensatory mechanism for the ongoing psychological distress generated from intergenerational conflict and familial achievement orientation. Conversely, traditional eating disorder literature on familial cohesion and low parental care may not be applicable to young Asians. Future research should focus on how social appearance anxiety and psychological factors can mediate the link between disordered eating and familial stressors in Asian students.
... Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes in physical, social and emotional development [1,2]. Foundations are set during these years for learned behaviours to engrain and ultimately project into lifelong habits [3][4][5], including the shaping of social-emotional regulation and eating behaviours and problems [6][7][8]. ...
... It is understandable, therefore, to consider that parents contribute to their adolescents' sense of security and connectedness [18], influence the emotional warmth and perceived safety of the home environment [19,20], and contribute to their child's psychological health over this timespan [21]. Conversely, criticisms and teasing of body weight and shape, or verbal encouragements of weight loss, can undermine the presumed quality of interaction of the parent-child dyad within the family system [7,22,23]. ...
... Research has found adolescence to be a time when foundational self-concepts, including beliefs about weight and shape are established [6][7][8]. Findings in this study of a positive association between perceived negative parental weight/shape or eating comments, and daughters' psychological health and EDCs increasing with adolescent stage are consistent with the finding that frequency was found to increase with adolescent stage [33]. However, when BMI%ile and psychological distress were considered alongside adolescent stage the latter lost its' significance. ...
Plain English summary Adolescence is a time of rapid emotional and physical development when beliefs about one’s weight and shape are established. Parents are key influencers of adolescent beliefs and behaviours. This study aimed to consider associations between perceived positive and negative parental comments on weight/shape and eating, with sons’ and daughters’ psychological distress and behaviours associated with eating disorders. We found all perceived negative comments from either parent were associated with poorer adolescent mental health, both specific to behaviours associated with eating disorders and general distress. When we considered the strength of the relationship between parental comments and different influences such as biological sex, developmental stage, BMI percentile and psychological distress, we expected to find that BMI percentile and psychological distress would influenced the findings, and they did. When we considered the relationship with them included, perceived maternal negative comments continued to have a negative influence on behaviours related to eating disorders. Therefore, our findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of potential negative impacts within family systems of comments around weight/shape and eating in these key formative years.
... The development of disordered eating is thought to be learned, to some extent, through a daughter's modeling of maternal behaviors [7,14] either directly or indirectly [10,15,16]. For example, dieting, restricting, and abstaining from eating in daughters have all been associated with the same behaviors endorsed by their mothers [17,18]. Furthermore, mothers whose daughters have symptoms of an eating disorder are significantly more likely to have an eating disorder themselves, compared to mothers of daughters who show no symptoms of an eating disorder [7,19]. ...
... Extensive work in the field has found a variety of risk factors for disordered eating among women [4], particularly the relationship daughters have with their mothers [10]. Studies have also found a variety of risk factors on the influence of parental conversations regarding weight and college women's development of disordered eating behaviors [13,18,24]. However, to our knowledge, the examination of maternal influence and weight-related conversations during childhood with the development of eating disorder psychopathology in adulthood is limited in the literature [18]. ...
... Studies have also found a variety of risk factors on the influence of parental conversations regarding weight and college women's development of disordered eating behaviors [13,18,24]. However, to our knowledge, the examination of maternal influence and weight-related conversations during childhood with the development of eating disorder psychopathology in adulthood is limited in the literature [18]. Furthermore, limited research has assessed protective factors and resilience to disordered eating risk, particularly the influence of the mother-daughter relationship, as perceived by the adult daughter [24][25][26]. ...
Purpose
Extensive work in the field has found multiple risk factors of disordered eating among women; however, there is limited research regarding the associations of maternal influence and family weight-related conversations during childhood with eating disorder psychopathology later in adulthood. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how the mother–daughter relationship and family weight-related conversations may influence the development of disordered eating in college-aged women.
Methods
A diverse sample of 551 college-aged women completed an online survey with instruments that assessed disordered eating risk (dependent variable) with the following independent variables: aspects of the mother–daughter relationship (maternal regard and responsibility) and family weight-related conversations (emphasis on maternal weight, appearance weight control, and parent weight talk). Mediation analysis was performed using hierarchical regression analyses to examine the influence of maternal factors in combination with family weight-related conversations with disordered eating risk.
Results
Using hierarchical regression analyses, aspects of the mother–daughter relationship were significantly associated with risk of disordered eating. However, this significant relationship was diminished in the presence of family weight-related conversations. Furthermore, a test of the mediation suggests that family weight-related conversations may act as a pathway for influencing perceived maternal factors in the development of disordered eating.
Conclusions
Findings illustrate the important role mothers may have in shaping their daughters eating attitudes and behaviors. Future disordered eating prevention programs and interventions may consider developing strategies in educating parents on conversations regarding weight.
Level of evidence
Descriptive cross-sectional study, Level V.
... Although adolescents value acceptance from peers (Jones and Crawford 2006), youths' relationship with their parents during adolescence appears to be most salient for emotional well-being (Helsen et al. 2000), health attitudes and behaviors (Blewitt et al. 2016), and body dissatisfaction and weight control behaviors (Abdalla et al. 2020;Rodgers and Chabrol 2009). Weight-based discussions in families are a potential mechanism that influences poor mental and physical health outcomes (Nickelson et al. 2012). ...
... Parents of adolescents' struggle with weight conversations, and a more nuanced understanding of parent-adolescent weight-talk is warranted. For example, in a literature review, researchers found that studies exploring parent influence (e.g., via messages and comments on youth weight and eating behaviors) on youth outcomes lacked assessment of parents' indirect messages and positive comments regarding weight and body shape (Rodgers and Chabrol 2009). Furthermore, there is a lack of research on adolescent health and the dialogue during this time of development (Langford et al. 2017;Sawyer et al. 2012). ...
... A literature review including 56 studies revealed the significance of parent influences (e.g., direct comments including criticism about weight, encouragement to lose weight, and teasing) on increased body image disturbance and disordered eating outcomes among youth (Rodgers and Chabrol 2009). However, the investigators highlight several limitations across the studies concerning parents' messages and comments about eating, body shape, and weight and call for further research to identify characteristics of such conversations. ...
Research findings suggest parent weight-talk is associated with negative health outcomes among youth, and weight must be discussed with caution. Yet, it remains unclear the extent to which different approaches to weight-talk affect different health-related outcomes. The objective of this systematic review is to characterize varying parent weight-talk approaches with respect to adolescent health-related and psychosocial outcomes and to identify methodological shortcomings in this body of literature. Included articles were published between January 2010 and January 2020, included adolescents ages 11–18, addressed weight-talk between parents and adolescents, and excluded clinical populations (e.g., eating disorder diagnosis, bariatric and/or diabetic population). A systematic search of three databases and a hand search of two peer-reviewed journals resulted in 16 articles meeting inclusion criteria. While findings remain preliminary, the research indicates that overall health-based conversations are more productive and cause less harmful consequences than overt conversations about adolescent weight. The findings also demonstrate that research lacks dyadic data between parents and adolescents for weight-talk, fathers are underrepresented in this research, and adolescent preferences/perceptions of comments and discussions with parents remain unknown. More research is needed to examine different types of weight-talk between parents and adolescents and health outcomes associated with engaging in such conversations and/or comments.
... Scholars point to multiple mechanisms through which this influence occurs, including sociocultural pressure, direct communication, and indirect communication . For example, parents have the potential to internalize and transmit pressures from the environment, such as the "thin ideal," to their children through parental behaviors and attitudes (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). The "thin ideal" (i.e., the idolization of thin body shapes) is an enduring influence in Western societies (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). ...
... For example, parents have the potential to internalize and transmit pressures from the environment, such as the "thin ideal," to their children through parental behaviors and attitudes (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). The "thin ideal" (i.e., the idolization of thin body shapes) is an enduring influence in Western societies (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). The rise of eating disorder rates in the United States is noted to coincide with the increased internalization of the thin ideal promoted in the media (Tatangelo et al., 2016) and numerous studies support a circular relationship between internalizing body image ideals, engaging in social comparison with peers, and increased levels of body dissatisfaction (Hardit & Hannum, 2012;Rodgers et al., 2015). ...
... Also similar to the United States, Australian rates of disordered eating are increasing (Mitchison et al., 2012) and are noted to begin at earlier ages (Madden et al., 2009). Rodgers and Chabrol (2009) further observed that studies conducted in Australia and the United States report similar parental influences and sociocultural pressures on adolescents and young adults in both countries. Due to comparable rates in eating disorders and sociocultural variables, programs that have significant outcomes in Australia may have relevance in the United States and examination of their transferability is warranted. ...
Confident Body, Confident Child (CBCC) is a parenting program designed to enhance knowledge of ways to promote body appreciation and sustainable health habits in 2- to 6-year-old children. Following a randomized controlled trial in Australia, the current study explores the international applicability of CBCC with the first pilot trial in the United States. Using an uncontrolled pretest–posttest design, this study examines (a) parental knowledge, (b) weight bias internalization, and (c) body appreciation among parents before and after program participation. A total of 13 CBCC programs were conducted for parents ( n = 92 baseline; n = 40 pretest–posttest). Findings support CBCC as a means to increase parents’ levels of knowledge around body image across countries and across cultures and are discussed for practice implications and future research with diverse populations.
... No similar results of moderation were observed in the Italian sample. Reviewing the research on parental attitudes in relation to the result obtained in the Polish sample, we read that adolescents tend to model the attitudes of their parents, especially mothers, regarding body shape [62]. Adolescents model healthy or unhealthy eating behavior, including weight management behavior [62]. ...
... Reviewing the research on parental attitudes in relation to the result obtained in the Polish sample, we read that adolescents tend to model the attitudes of their parents, especially mothers, regarding body shape [62]. Adolescents model healthy or unhealthy eating behavior, including weight management behavior [62]. It can thus be concluded that this effect can also occur in the field of body shame. ...
The present study aimed at assessing the predictors (related to the functioning of a parent-child dyad) of child body shame. Therefore, in the main analysis we examined relationships among child body shame, child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent body shame, parent per-fectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. In our main hypothesis we assumed that higher levels of the abovementioned parent functioning-related variables would be associated with higher child body shame after accounting for the effects of the foregoing child functioning-related variables. The analysis finally included complete data from 420 participants, i.e., a 115 Polish and 95 Italian parent-child dyad. Participants completed: (a) child: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale for Youth, the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, the Children's Body Image Scale/the Figure Rating Scale; (b) parent: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale. The results of a correlational analysis show that in both the Polish and Italian samples, the higher the level of child body shame, the higher the level of the following variables: child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent perfectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. Interestingly, the only insignificant relationship in both samples is the association between body shame in both members of the child-parent dyad. Moreover, all steps of the regressions were significant in both Polish and Italian samples. It turned out that only in the Italian sample were all predictors significantly associated with a child's body shame (in the Polish sample there was no significant association between child's body shame and parent's perfection-ism). To sum up, the above studies show the importance of considering the functioning of the parent child dyad in understanding child body shame. These findings suggest that parents' attitudes toward their bodies and their beliefs about an ideal self should be taken into account when planning interventions to improve children's and adolescents' attitudes toward their bodies. This is so because it is possible for children to internalize their parents' beliefs about how to look and how critical one should be of themselves, which can result in strong body shame when they are not perfect enough against the internalized ideal. Therefore, it is also necessary to make parents aware that children's attitude toward their body is often a reflection of parents' attitude toward the body.
... Previous research has also shown that parental body-related feedback can influence offspring's body image (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Wansink et al., 2017). For example, maternal and paternal teasing were related to body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and drive for muscularity in adolescent boys (Schaefer & Salafia, 2014). ...
... superscript coefficients differ at Z > 1.96, p < .05, with 1 indicating a larger effect of negative media messages in women than men (i.e., moderation by participant gender), and 2 and 3 indicating a larger effect of negative maternal feedback than paternal negative feedback in women and men (i.e., moderation by parent gender) Women (n = 400) Men (n = 155) Past studies show the effects of media messages (Brown & Tiggeman, 2016;Robinson et al., 2017) and parent feedback (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Wansink et al., 2017) on emerging adult body image; however, less research has examined how these effects interact with parent gender. For example, research has examined how messages from mothers, fathers, peers, and the media affect body image and eating-related health risk behaviors in adolescents and how these effects changed over time (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2005); however, research has not examined how different sources interact to affect body image. ...
Previous research has shown the effect of both media messages and parental feedback on emerging adult body esteem. However, not much research has examined the combined effects of these types of feedback on emerging adult body esteem. Previous research has also shown that mothers and fathers can affect their children differently. Thus, the current study examined the interaction effects of maternal and paternal feedback and media messages on emerging adult body esteem. Participants included 555 college-attending emerging adults (72.1% women). Participants completed an online survey measuring negative media messages, negative maternal and paternal feedback, and body esteem. Results indicated significant negative main effects of media messages and maternal and paternal feedback on emerging adult body esteem Furthermore, results indicated a significant three-way interaction effect of media messages and maternal and paternal feedback on body esteem in emerging adult women. Findings from this study can be used to inform interventions addressing body image in emerging adults.
... The investigation of possible factors involved in the aetiology of MD is rather scanty in the literature. However, some evidence seems to suggest that parents have an influence on adolescents' attitudes towards their bodies (Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009), including satisfaction with their physical appearance in general and concern about their own muscularity (Readdy et al., 2011;Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001). Some evidence suggests that pressure, comments, and experiences related to teasing by parents may promote greater striving for muscularity and more muscle dysmorphic symptoms (Dryer et al., 2016;Readdy et al., 2011). ...
... Parental criticism has been linked to a range of psychological symptoms (Ammerman & Brown, 2018;Horowitz et al., 2015;Yates et al., 2008), including behaviours associated with eating disorders and dysmorphic concerns (Readdy et al., 2011;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). In addition, children whose parents have high expectations of them and criticize them when they do not meet these expectations, or whose parents have a particular parenting style (characterized by criticism and strict and controlling behaviour), tend to develop perfectionistic traits (Flett et al., 2002), which are strongly associated with MD (Dryer et al., 2016). ...
Adolescents are a population particularly at risk of body dissatisfaction, namely body dysmorphic disorder. The most recent literature has begun to increasingly examine muscularity as a critical element of body image. The drive for muscularity is recognized in both sexes as a risk factor for muscle dysmorphia. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of attachment to parents and gender on the association between parental criticism and muscle dysmorphia symptomatology. This study included 1062 participants (49.9% female) with an average age of 17.44 years (SD = 1.14). Path analysis modeling yielded significant results show that parental criticism appears to predict body dysmorphic concerns via parental alienation in both genders. and in males in particular it is associated with a greater drive for muscularity, in accordance with the male aesthetic model of physical appearance. Limits, future directions for research and practical implications are discussed.
... For example, in his work, Worobey (2009) noted that family characteristics were more influential than Barbies in predicting women's dieting. Girls are likely to adopt the attitudes and model behaviors from others close to them, especially when it comes to body image and eating (Paxton et al., 1999;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). ...
... In fact, pressure to be thin, dieting behaviors, and thin ideal internalization among family and friends are particularly powerful predictors of girls' body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (Ata et al., 2007;Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). Additionally, during childhood, girls may play with toys with their parents or friends, making these individuals particularly influential in communicating social norms and gender roles. ...
Introduction: Although Barbies are heavily criticized for their unattainable bodies, research has not thoroughly examined the long-lasting effects of playing with Barbies in childhood on women’s later body image. In the present study, we examined whether the frequency of play with Barbies, number of Barbies owned, enjoyment when playing with Barbies, and age at first play with Barbies were associated with women’s body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and dieting behaviors. Methods: Female young adults (n=68) who had played with Barbies as children responded to surveys. Results: We found that only age at first play with Barbies in childhood was associated with greater drive for thinness in adulthood; no other Barbie variable was associated with body image. Conclusions: These findings suggest that girls who begin playing with Barbies at a young age may be susceptible to developing a greater internalization of the thin ideal. It is important that girls and parents be aware that Barbies do not represent an ideal body to match. Keywords: Barbie; dolls; disordered eating; drive for thinness
... Given this, understanding parental patterns and a possible relationship between food consumption in parents and adolescents become relevant to promote assertive interventions to combat overweight and obesity A recent study developed in Spain identified that nuclear families could promote better information about healthy eating habits for children and adolescents [11]. However, even the parents can only help the adolescents' choices along with the individual's internal desire to change eating behavior [12]. Thus, to the author's knowledge, there is a gap in food processing studies in treating obesity in adolescents comparing isolated (IG) versus family groups (FG). ...
The food consumption of adolescents has changed nowadays, with an increase in ultraprocessed food that in general shows higher calories and lower nutrients. Because of this, the objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of a 12-week multi-professional family versus isolated intervention on the food level processing of overweight adolescents. A randomized clinical trial study was carried out in which adolescents (n = 43; mean aged 13.73 years) who were divided into FG— family group (n = 21; the adolescents performed the activities with their parents) and IG—isolated group (n = 22; the adolescents performed the activities alone). The parameters measured before and after 12 weeks of multi-professional intervention (physical exercise, nutrition and psychoeducation) were: body mass, height and body mass index-BMI. The level of food processing was analyzed using a three-day food recall (24hR), classified according to the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population (fresh, minimally, processed and ultra-processed foods). The main results show that there was only a significant reduction in the consumption of processed foods (FG: 7.93%; IG: 49.73%) and ultraprocessed foods (FG: 35.06%; IG: 67.16%) in grams (FG: 22.29%; IG: 65.23%) and calories (p < 0.05; for all comparisons). The consumption of fresh foods in grams (FG:61.97%; IG: 147.13%) and calories (FG: 147.13%; IG: 118.03%) and minimally processed foods (FG: 27.45%; IG: 14.64%) in grams increased significantly (p < 0.05; for all comparisons). However, no significant differences were observed between all variables analyzed for the groups, nor any interaction (p > 0.05). In conclusion, both groups who participated in the activities showed positive changes with increased consumption of fresh foods and reduced consumption of processed foods, without difference between them.
... 22,24 Parents may perceive verbal encouragement of dieting and weight loss as an act of caring for others, and they may view the teasing of weight and body size as a neutral comment made in the context of family relationships. 25 Studies have found that parental norms and modelling behaviours regarding appearance, [26][27][28] parental neglect or ignorance, 29 and aspects such as teasing 30,31 and encouragement of weight and size control 25,29 influence adolescents' body image. Weight, weight dissatisfaction, and health-related eating habits also develop strongly during child growth and development 32 . ...
Purpose:
This study aimed to analyze the association pathways of parental stress on children's appearance, body dissatisfaction, and eating behaviours in Chinese children and adolescents.
Patients and methods:
The children aged 8-15 years were selected from 2 nine-year schools using stratified cluster random sampling. The appearance-related social stress questionnaire and the body dissatisfaction subscale of EDI-1 were used to investigate parental stress on children's appearance and body dissatisfaction, respectively. The self-administered eating frequency questionnaire was used to investigate children's eating behaviours.
Results:
Body dissatisfaction in girls mediated associations between BMI, parental teasing, parental injustice and ignorance, parental encouragement and healthy eating behaviour: BMI → body dissatisfaction → healthy eating behaviour, parental teasing → body dissatisfaction → healthy eating behaviour, parental injustice and ignorance → body dissatisfaction → healthy eating behaviour, parental encouragement → body dissatisfaction → healthy eating behaviour. Parental injustice and ignorance directly and negatively predicted healthy eating behaviour in girls. In boys and girls, parental teasing was a direct predictor factor of unhealthy eating behaviour.
Conclusion:
Parental teasing, parental injustice and ignorance, parental encouragement, and BMI through body dissatisfaction positively predicted healthy eating behaviour in girls, parental injustice and ignorance directly negatively predicted healthy eating behaviour in girls, and parental teasing directly positively predicted unhealthy eating behaviour in girls and boys. Therefore, parental pressure on children's appearance may pay important role in children's eating behaviours.
... This perception suggests parents may not be able to identify such accounts as appearance focused or their potential for facilitating appearance comparisons among their daughters, with potential negative impacts to body image. Parents, especially mothers, are a major influence on girls' body image [49,50] and mothers' self-objectification has been associated with girls as young as 5-8 years of age using beauty products and having appearance concerns [51]. Parents may need body image related education to enable them to help their daughters challenge sexualized appearance-ideals on social media and counteract any potential negative influences, and model behaviours and attitudes that show girls' value is more than their outward physical appearance [52]. ...
This research explored adults’ perceptions of how sexualized images typically found on social media might influence adolescent girls’ mental health, what support girls might need should they experience mental health difficulties, and how such difficulties could be prevented or reduced. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews with parents of adolescent girls (n = 11) and those who provide support to them: school support service staff (n = 7) and youth mental health service providers (n = 10) located in Perth, Western Australia. All three participant groups perceived sexualized images typically found on social media as exacerbating poor mental health among adolescent girls. Two interrelated themes, emerged with participants describing the ‘potential for comparison’ and ‘pressure to conform’ they believed girls encounter on social media that influences their mental health. Participants also explained how they perceived ‘counteracting negative influences’ related to sexualized images on social media could prevent or reduce the potential for mental health harms among girls, and the importance of adults and services ‘keeping up to date’ and being ‘approachable and trustworthy’ when describing the support they believed girls might need. The findings of this study have important implications for the development of health promotion programs focused on social media use and mental health among adolescent girls.
... This finding supports existing research recommending an ecological approach to adolescent body image development, where all interactions in a girls' environment can be influenced to prevent body dissatisfaction related to social media use [83]. Parents are a key influence on girls' body image [84,85], and research has found they can play a protective role in preadolescent and adolescent social media appearance comparisons and body dissatisfaction [86,87]. Schools provide a setting in which content can be delivered in the classroom and whereby families, peers, teachers and other school staff can be engaged and involved in the implementation of health promotion interventions with a focus on body image [88]. ...
Background
Adolescent girls appear more vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties from social media use than boys. The presence of sexualized images online is thought to contribute, through increasing body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls. Sexual objectification through images may reinforce to adolescent girls that their value is based on their appearance. This study explored how sexualized images typically found on social media might influence adolescent girls’ mental health, in positive and/or negative ways.
Methods
In-depth interviews were conducted with girls aged 14–17 years (n = 24) in Perth, Western Australia. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results
Participants identified body image as a major concern, reporting negative appearance comparisons when viewing images on social media. Appearance comparisons were perceived to exacerbate adolescent girls’ appearance-based concerns. Comparisons also influenced adolescent girls’ efforts to change their appearance and seek validation on social media. The importance of awareness and education from a younger age about social media and its influence on body image was emphasized, as was the need for strategies to promote positive body image and counteract negative body image.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have important implications for professionals working with adolescent girls and for the development of health promotion programs addressing social media use and body image concerns.
... As described above, the sociocultural model proposes that there are important factors contributing to the development of women's body image (Thompson et al., 1999;Tiggemann, 2011). Parents play important roles in influencing female adolescents' body image (Romo & Mireles-Rios, 2016), and this continues into young adulthood (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). Specifically, researchers have found that early negative eating and weight messages from caregivers may contribute to the development of body image shame in later life (Oliveira et al., 2020). ...
Using the sociocultural model and risk and resilience theory, we examined the moderating role of Latinas’ family relationship quality on the associations between negative eating and weight messages from fathers, mothers, and sisters, and Latinas’ body image shame. Utilizing Amazon Mechanical Turk, we recruited a sample of 195 Latina young adults (Mage = 23.24, range = 18 −25; SD = 1.95; 67.4 % Mexican-origin) who reported retrospectively on negative appearance-related messages from each family member (i.e., fathers, mothers, and sisters), positive (e.g., parental warmth and sibling intimacy) and negative (i.e., parental psychological control and sibling negativity) relationship quality with parents and sisters, and current body image shame. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that negative eating and weight messages from fathers, mothers, and sisters and sibling negativity were positively and significantly associated with Latinas’ body image shame. Further, we found that under conditions of high paternal psychological control but not low, the associations between fathers’ messages and Latinas’ body image shame were strengthened. For mothers, under conditions of low maternal psychological control but not high, the associations between mothers’ messages and Latinas’ body image shame were strengthened. Our findings reveal that family members’ negative comments are harmful for Latinas’ body image.
... For example, most studies to date have assessed either negative parental weight-talk or general 'comments about weight' [14,26], without examination or consideration of positive comments that parents may engage in about weight. This limitation in particular has been acknowledged by scholars for more than a decade [20], and researchers in the field continue to note that studies have focused more on identifying consequences of weight-talk rather than on attempting to understand the context, circumstances, and nature of these conversations [13]. Thus, despite concerning health implications of parent weight-talk, well documented across studies, we know considerably less about how parents and adolescents communicate about weight. ...
Research suggests that many parents make comments about their child’s weight, which is associated with negative adolescent health outcomes. Gaps in this literature include an underrepresentation of fathers, limited knowledge regarding positive versus negative parental weight comments and differences across race/ethnicity, and adolescent preferences for parental weight communication. The present study addressed these research gaps through a comprehensive investigation of two diverse samples of U.S. parents (n = 1936) and adolescents (n = 2032), who completed questionnaires about their experiences and perspectives of parental weight communication. Positive weight comments from parents were more frequent than negative comments, though both were commonly reported across sex, race/ethnicity, and weight status. In general, boys, fathers, Latino/a parents and adolescents, and adolescents with a high BMI and/or engaged in weight management reported more frequent parental weight-talk. Parent–adolescent weight communication occurred both in-person and digitally, and across daily life contexts. Although the majority of parents communicated positive messages of body diversity and respect, 44% and 63% of adolescents said they never want their mothers and fathers, respectively, to talk about their weight. Adolescents were offered circumstances that would increase their comfort level in having these conversations. Findings have implications for health professionals working with families to promote supportive health communication at home.
... Women are particularly likely to internalize the thin-ideal, and men the muscular-ideal (Schaeffer et al., 2015). The basic pathways of this model -from appearance pressures to internalization of these thin and muscular ideals to body dissatisfaction -have been supported across a variety of populations (Girard, Chabrol, & Rodgers, 2018;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Rodgers, Chabrol, & Paxton, 2011;Thompson, Schaefer, & Menzel, 2012;Tylka, 2011;Tylka and Andorka, 2012). Fredrickson & Roberts (1997) emphasized the importance of understanding the role that routine sexual objectification of women in shaping women's body image. ...
Body image is a critical component of an individual’s sexual experiences. This makes it critical to identify demographic and sociocultural correlates of sexuality-related body image: the subjective feelings, cognitions, and evaluations related to one’s body in the context of sexual experience. We examined how sexuality-related body image differed by gender, sexual orientation, race, age, and BMI. Four items assessing sexuality-related body image were completed by 11,620 U.S. adults: self-perceived sex appeal of their body, nude appearance satisfaction, and the extent to which they believed that body image positively or negatively affected their sexual enjoyment and feelings of sexual acceptability as a partner. Men reported slightly less nude appearance dissatisfaction and fewer negative effects of body image on sexual enjoyment and sexual acceptability than women, but did not differ in reported sex appeal. Poorer sexuality-related body image was reported by people with higher BMIs, not in relationships, who had sex less frequently, among White compared to Black women and men, and among gay compared to heterosexual men. Data also revealed a subgroup of respondents who reported that their body image had a positive impact on their sex lives. The findings highlight a need for interventions addressing sexuality-related body image.
... Adolescents are more likely to engage in exercise-related activities if their parents do (Christofaro et al., 2018), particularly when adolescents perceive support and encouragement from their parents to exercise (e.g., King et al., 2008). However, messages from parents to exercise to promote body change rather than health is associated with unhealthy body changes strategies in adolescents and young adults, such as disordered eating (Berge et al., 2013;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). Peers, however, often become a more salient influence than parents during adolescence (Brown et al., 2007). ...
Compulsive exercise commonly coexists with eating psychopathology. While the impact of sociocultural influences on disordered eating has been identified in young people, sociocultural influences on compulsive exercise are yet to be systematically synthesized. This systematic review therefore aimed to synthesize literature examining sociocultural influences from peers, family and media on compulsive exercise, to explore the potential importance of such influences on the development and maintenance of compulsive exercise in young people. A systematic literature search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines in PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science databases up to November 2021. Seven quantitative studies were included (five cross-sectional, two prospective). The review highlighted three key factors underpinning the relationship between sociocultural influences and compulsive exercise in young people: body-related messages from significant others, and unfavorable comparisons with, and pressure to conform to, body image ideals. The findings support the notion that compulsive exercise behaviors and attitudes can be socially determined. However, the limited research with young people necessitates further exploration of sociocultural influences on the development and onset of compulsive exercise in adolescence/young adulthood to develop robust conclusions. It is also crucial that research remains up to date with changing technological influences on exercise behaviors.
... Sociocultural theories describe how the pressure to pursue these appearance ideals, as well as the vilification of higher weight, is transmitted particularly strongly through traditional -and more recently, social -media, and then amplified by interpersonal sources of influence including mothers, fathers, and peers (Thompson et al., 1999). A robust body of research has supported these influences as being cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with disordered eating, body change behaviors, and higher weight (Haines, Neumark-Sztainer, Eisenberg & Hannan, 2006;Levine & Murnen, 2009;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Webb & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2014). ...
Although a range of risk factors have been identified for disordered eating and weight status, the breadth of risk factors have been rarely considered within a single, comprehensive model. The robustness of these findings across countries also remains an open question. The present study sampled 6272 participants aged 18-30 years from eight countries in an attempt to evaluate combined and unique predictors for these two conditions, and to explore possible crosscountry differences in these models. Participants completed a range of demographic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and sociocultural measures to test a comprehensive model of the contributions of these predictors for disordered eating and weight-related constructs (binge eating, body mass index, compensatory behaviors, dietary restraint, drive for muscularity, and drive for leanness). Structural invariance testing within a multigroup path analysis framework revealed that a single model across the eight countries provided poor model fit. Freeing of 22% of parameters across countries provided excellent fit and a satisfactory compromise for country-invariant and country-variant parameters in the model. Overall, predictors accounted for between 15% and 60% of variance in the outcome measures, with lowest explained variance for the disordered eating outcomes. Significant unique contributions to prediction were observed for each of the five risk factor variable types and across the eight (M. Fuller-Tyszkiewicz). Body Image 40 (2022) 322-339 countries. Thus, the findings show strong support for this model as an explanatory framework of both disordered eating and weight status.
... Parents are primary influences in the development of eating attitudes and behaviors among their children. [3][4][5] Parenting practices and parents' own eating attitudes and behaviors play a role in the foods that are available and served at home and the ways that parents engage in family meals. Thus, the home food and meal environment constitutes a potential mechanism through which parental eating attitudes and behaviors are related to their children's eating outcomes. ...
Background
Mothers and fathers have roles in shaping the eating behaviors of young children and the intergenerational transmission of eating attitudes. However, little is known regarding how parental intuitive eating practices are related to characteristics of home food and meal environments.
Objective
To investigate the relationship between parental intuitive eating and the home food and meal environment.
Design
Cross-sectional analysis of survey data collected online and by mail in 2015-2016 as part of the Project EAT cohort study.
Participants and Setting
Participants from 750 unique households (470 mothers, 280 fathers) were surveyed in young adulthood (Mean (M)age=31.4 years, Standard Deviation (SD) = 1.5). Baseline enrollment of participants in the population-based, Project EAT study was conducted in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota schools.
Main Outcome Measures
Intuitive eating was assessed via self-report.
Statistical Analyses
Modified Poisson regression models were conducted, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
Results
Among mothers, higher intuitive eating scores were associated with greater likelihood of usually having fruits and vegetables in the home (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.03) and with lower likelihood of usually having salty snacks and soda pop in the home (PR = 0.91). Higher intuitive eating scores were also associated with greater likelihood of usually serving fruits and vegetables at dinner among mothers (PR = 1.07). Among both mothers (PR = 1.08) and fathers (PR = 1.07), higher intuitive eating scores were associated with greater likelihood of usually having enough time and energy to prepare meals.
Conclusions
Intuitive eating practices in parents are associated with specific home food environment characteristics. Extending the understanding of these relationships in longitudinal data has the potential to inform the directionality of influences and may help to identify targets for intervention.
... Cumulative evidence suggests that parents and peers' appearance and weight-related commentary is associated with adolescents' body satisfaction, unhealthy weight controlling behavior and disordered eating symptoms (Quiles Marcos, Quiles Sebastián, Pamies Aubalat, Botella Ausina & Treasure, 2013; Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Simone, Hazzard, Berge, Larson & Neumark-Sztainer, 2021). The temporal sequence through which parents and peers' own body commentary and dietary behaviours manifest into one's own body concerns and appearance commentary has been explained by objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997;Mills & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, 2016). ...
Research examining the interpersonal correlates of body talk has primarily focused on the negative consequences of perceiving fat talk on women’s own body talk and eating behaviours; however, little is known about the correlates and effects of positive body talk. This study examined the associations between perceived family and peer negative and positive body talk and adolescent girls’ body talk and eating disorder attitudes, and the mediating role of adolescents’ fear of negative evaluation and self-compassion in these relationships. Influences of family members and peers were compared to examine the uniformity of these interpersonal processes. Adolescent girls (N = 331, M age = 15.7, SD = 1.0) completed a survey. Path analysis models suggested that in the peer and family models, perceived negative body talk was associated with more self-related negative talk through fear of negative evaluation and lower self-compassion, whereas perceived positive body talk was associated with more self-related positive talk through self-compassion. Additionally, adolescents’ fear of negative evaluation and self-related negative talk were mediators between perceived negative body talk and eating disorder attitudes. Results suggest that negative and positive body talk are cultivated interpersonally by increasing evaluative concerns and decreasing self-compassion.
... An association was also observed in terms of the satisfaction towards perceived NS and fad dieting (Table 3). Supporting studies have shown that body dissatisfaction is associated with dieting and disordered eating behaviors (Mirza et al., 2005;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009;Banjari et al., 2011;Bucchianeri et al., 2016). Similarly, our study showed that those who have practiced fad diets have low body satisfaction while those who have not practiced fad diets have higher satisfaction rate with their perceived NS (Table 3, Fig. 6). Figure 6. ...
Adolescents are at the stage when they are most influenced, and body image and satisfaction with one's appearance are formed. At the same time, exposure to health risks of under and overnutrition, and unrealistic body image portrayed in the media and peers put adolescents into a vulnerable position to try popular quick strategies such as fad dieting to achieve their body goal. The objectives of this study are to investigate prevalence of fad dieting among middle-adolescent students in University of the Philippine Rural High School (UP RHS) and determine the factors that influence its practice. The practice of fad dieting, actual and perceived nutritional status (NS) among UP RHS students were obtained through survey questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. Results showed that there is a discrepancy between the actual and perceived NS of middle-adolescent students. Despite having normal NS, some students perceive being underweight or overweight. Body dissatisfaction was also observed despite students having normal NS, and dissatisfaction rates increase among overweight students. Only 17% of the study population have tried fad dieting to lose weight and an association was observed such that those who are fad dieters have normal and overweight perceived NS, and low body satisfaction. This study has presented evidence that middle-adolescents students have engaged with fad diets and other unhealthy dietary practices influenced by their perceived NS and body satisfaction. Nutritional policies, assessment and interventions should be given importance to promote healthy lifestyle and to prevent negative health effects among this age group in the long run.
... Por outro lado, a crítica e rigidez parental, podem influenciar negativamente a construção da imagem corporal dos filhos (Aliyev & Türkmen, 2014;Micali et al., 2015). Esta influência é feita através da ação direta dos pais (e.g., comentários sobre a aparência e peso corporal, provocação e pressão exercida para perder peso) e da ação indireta (e.g., comentários negativos sobre o seu próprio corpo, que potenciam a autocrítica) (Damiano et al., 2015;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009 A Teoria da Aprendizagem Social de Bandura defende que os relacionamentos interpessoais podem contribuir para esta proliferação de atitudes e comportamentos face à aparência, levando a que esta pressão e incentivo para perder peso seja também sentida no convívio entre pares (Webb & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2014). ...
Objective: This literature review aims to analyze how body image may fluctuate throughout the main life stages (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, aging) and how it may be influenced by a set of sociocultural factors. Method: A narrative literature review approach was chosen, using the B-On and Scholar Google search bases, through the search for the words: Body Image, Body Satisfaction, Body Dissatisfaction, Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood and Older Person. Results: Body image appears to be most influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors (e.g., physical, psychological, and social) in the stages of the life cycle most marked by change, namely puberty and middle age. It was found that women tend to have higher levels of pressure about their body image than men. On the other hand, greater body dissatisfaction seems to correspond to greater rigidity and criticism from the media, parents, and peers. Conclusions: This study denotes the lack of research on this subject in certain age groups, namely the geriatric population, as well as in the male gender. The construction of a positive and stable body image throughout life may prevent associated psychopathologies, so it is important to invest more in education for self-acceptance and acceptance of the other.
... Overall, parents are known to have a large effect on adolescents' body esteem (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). However, this study is the first to our knowledge to test the associations between parent-adolescent relationship quality, body esteem, and DE among SM adolescent girls. ...
The present study examined whether body esteem mediates the associations between psychosocial factors, including peer victimization and parent–adolescent relationship quality, and multiple categories of disordered eating (DE) within a diverse sample of adolescent sexual minority (SM) girls. Participants were 528 girls, aged 14–18 years, recruited as part of a larger online study on LGBTQ + adolescent health. Participants anonymously completed self-report measures of parent–adolescent relationship quality, sexual orientation-based victimization, body esteem, and DE behaviors, including binge eating, purging, and caloric restriction. Parent–adolescent relationship quality was positively associated with SM adolescent girls’ body esteem, and some aspects of body esteem subsequently mediated the associations between parent–adolescent relationship quality and DE behaviors. Experiences of sexual orientation-related victimization were also positively related to endorsement of caloric restriction. However, no significant indirect effects were observed between sexual orientation-related victimization and DE via body esteem. These results suggest parents could influence their SM daughters’ DE behaviors via body esteem, and SM girls may be engaging in caloric restriction if they experience victimization, regardless of their body esteem.
... Participants also described very direct pressures to engage in disordered eating behaviors such as fad diets or supplements through advertising in the media, as well as interpersonal pressures from family members and peers. Such influences including pressure to be thin and diet and weight-based teasing and bullying have been extensively described in other contexts and are recognized as risk factors for the development of eating disorders (Haines, Neumark-Sztainer, Eisenberg, & Hannan, 2006;McKnight Investigators, 2003;Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). In addition, participants described ways in which interpersonal influences more indirectly contributed to increasing eating disorder risk, for example through gendered representations and sexual objectification (Moradi & Huang, 2008). ...
Body image and eating concerns are prevalent among Japanese young women and result in part from exposure to unrealistic media imagery. In Western contexts, a growing body of research has explored the impact of social media on body image and eating disorder risk, and the potential for body positive media to mitigate these harmful effects. However, similar research in Japan is lacking. The aim of the present study was to qualitatively explore media and social media influences on body image and associated behaviors among young women in Japan, with a specific focus on body positive media content. Female university students in Japan (n = 29) participated in majority group and some individual interviews. Thematic analysis revealed four primary themes: (1) media appearance pressures: additive pressures of Japanese and Western ideals through globalization, (2) criticism of, resistance to, and negotiating appearance ideals, and (3) presence of body positivity in Japan, and (4) media as a background for interpersonal appearance pressures. High pressure towards thinness emerged, perceived as contributing to weight control behaviors that were calibrated to avoid being "unhealthy." Desire for greater body diversity in Japanese media emerged; however, findings suggest body positive messaging is scarce and mainly limited to high-profile celebrities.
... While modelling behavior can influence individuals' body image and body dissatisfaction, evidence suggests that parental comments and active encouragement to diet can have an even greater influence on their child's body concerns and eating behaviors. [19] Types of comments can vary with mothers focusing on health but dads and siblings making more negative comments and participating in teasing. [20] Positive feedback can improve self-esteem of individuals with eating disorders. ...
It has been well documented that individuals struggling with eating disorders don’t have clear perceptions of their own bodies. Yet they overly rely on their body image as their sense of self. Even the criteria of certain eating disorders recognize that individuals are strongly affected by their body weight and shape, which is often seen through a distorted lens. Individuals with eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa, struggle not only with recognizing their external beauty but also their internal positive qualities. Their perfectionism and critical sense of self leads them to have negative views of their beauty and self-worth. This chapter will look at some of the reasons individuals with eating disorders struggle to appreciate their own beauty, internally as well as externally, and will offer some tools to help with these struggles. Many individuals, even those without disordered eating, struggle with critical self-perception. Perhaps this chapter can help us all become more compassionate to ourselves as we consider our external and internal aspects of beauty.
... While evidence indicates that parents can encourage the development of disordered eating among their children through their comments and behaviors (e.g. Rodgers and Chabrol, 2009), weight-related maltreatment from parents in sports has been largely overlooked. Results from the rare studies that have investigated the influence of parents on athletes' concerns with eating and weight show that parents' comments about their children's weight or eating habits can reinforce the pressure to be thin that is already in place in some sociocultural sports contexts (e.g. ...
The use of extreme weight-control behaviours (EWCB) is prevalent among adolescent athletes and may result from individual and sport-specific factors. Weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents, and conformity to sport ethic norms have recently been linked to the use of EWCB. This study aims to investigate the role of sport ethic norms and weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents in the use of EWCB among adolescent athletes. A sample of 999 French-Canadian athletes ages 14 to 17 years competing in a variety of sports completed an online survey assessing EWCB, weight-related maltreatment from coaches and parents, and conformity to sport ethic norms. A total of 16.9% of the adolescent athletes reported having adopted EWCB during their athletic careers. EWCB were significantly more prevalent among girls (19.75% vs 9.7% in boys) and weight-class-sport athletes (44%). In addition, 7.4% of the sample experienced at least one type of weight-related maltreatment by coaches or parents. Sex, weight-related neglect by coaches and parents, and weight-related psychological violence by coaches explained 24.4% of EWCB variance. Indeed, participants who engaged in EWCB experienced significantly more violence than the other participants did. In contrast, no differences were observed between people who engaged in EWCB and those who did not due to conformity to sport ethic norms.
... The results show that media contents suggesting anti-lookism and diverse beauty standards have drawn attention from people whose parents used relatively less healthyappearance talk when growing up and who had higher scores in self-objectification with body surveillance and body shame. These findings were consistent with the previous studies, illuminating the significant role of family factors [19,22,31,38,39,[71][72][73] in the theoretical framework of self-objectification [24,25,46,47]. From the perspective of health campaign design, health issues should draw the attention of people in need. ...
Excessive focus on appearance or lookism requires social attention as it can have negative consequences on individuals’ psychological and mental states related to health and sustainable social practice. As part of a healthy and sustainable social practice, this study tests the mechanism of enhancing appearance-related health campaign’s effectiveness through the O1-S-O2-R framework. Participants were 220 Korean college students with being 141 male and 78 female and they completed an on-line survey. The result of SEM analyses confirmed the O1-S-O2-R model. As the result of hypotheses testing, health campaign contents suggesting anti-lookism and diverse beauty standards have attracted the attention of people whose parents conversed using relatively less healthy-appearance talk when growing up and who had higher self-objectification scores with body surveillance and body shame. Interpersonal conversations and thoughts on the media content played a mediating role in the model, while health campaigns had a higher persuasive effect on campaign evaluation and the behavior intention of spreading the campaign’s content. Implications of the findings were discussed regarding health campaign designers and individuals, including parents, in education settings.
... Some studies that investigated BD in female adolescents were identified, analysing the associations with parental (16,18) and personal aspects in weight control practices (11,16,18,29) . However, few studies have evaluated the behaviours related to the weight of the father and the mother, individually (23,30,31) . Given this context, the present study aimed to identify BDconstituted by the desire to lose weightand possible associations with parental and personal aspects related to body shape and practices for weight control and loss in female adolescents from public schools in Caxias do Sul/Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. ...
The objective was to verify the association between body dissatisfaction (BD) - constituted by the desire to lose weight - with family and personal aspects related to the shape of the body and weight control practices in female adolescents. Cross-sectional observational epidemiological study with adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, enrolled in classes of the 8th and 9th years of public schools belonging to the urban area of the city of Caxias do Sul/RS, Brazil. A self-applicable questionnaire was used. BD was assessed using a Silhouettes Scale. Multivariate regression was performed using Poisson regression with robust variation, hierarchically using a pre-established conceptual model, using the prevalence ratio (PR) adjusted with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) as a measure of effect. A significance level of 5% (p≤0.05) was considered. Among the 685 female students, 77.2% had BD. The father's incentive to diet sometimes (PR: 1.20; 95% CI 1.08-1.22; p≤0.001) and always (PR: 1.15; 95% CI 1.03-1.28; p≤0.001), trying to lose weight (PR: 1.64; 95% CI 1.34-2.01; p≤0.0001), dieting five times or more (PR: 1.21; 95% CI 1.08-1.35; p=0.002) and skipping meals less than once a week (PR: 1.16; 95% CI 1.04-1.29; p=0.026), increased the chances of having BD. In conclusion, among the investigated parents' behaviors, only the father's incentive to go on a diet was associated with BD. Adolescent weight control practices increased the chances of having BD. Thus, it facilitates the identification of this condition at an early stage, enabling adequate treatment and prevention of health complications.
... For example, a previous study showed that individual adolescents' characteristics, such as gender, BMI, and general self-esteem, moderated the prediction associations between weight-related comments and social comparison, and body dissatisfaction over time (Cantin and Stan 2010). Moreover, personal factors, such as anxiety, comparison tendencies, and internalization of social ideals, can moderate parental influence (Rodgers and Chabrol 2009). ...
Although social support has been linked to body satisfaction, there has been little research on the effect of differential sources of support on the trajectory of appearance esteem over time. To address this gap, this study explored changes in adolescents' appearance esteem to perceived social support over one year. Data were collected from 339 Canadian adolescents (54.57% females) in Grade 7 (Mage = 12.05) and Grade 10 (Mage = 15.14). Multilevel growth modeling revealed that perceived social support from fathers was not associated with appearance esteem, whereas mothers' support had the strongest effect on appearance esteem, consistently over time. Friends' support was also related to an increase in the appearance esteem trajectory, but only for older students. Overall, this prospective study provides a better understanding of the unique contribution of three different sources of social support during adolescence for preventing negative appearance esteem, beyond the effects of other related variables.
... In contrast, the scales measuring pressure from the media revealed the strongest invariance. Research examining the role of father influence on body image has somewhat lagged behind the work focused on the influence of mothers, and the understanding of their role is more limited (Rodgers & Chabrol, 2009). Nevertheless, it has been suggested that their role might be less pronounced than that of mothers in determining body image and eating concerns. ...
The aim of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of two well-established measures of sociocultural influence and internalization of the thin/low body fat ideal and muscular ideal. Data from 6272 emerging adults (68.9 % female), aged 18-30 years from Australia, and the U.S. were included in this study. Participants completed measures of pressure from mother, fathers, peers, and media, to both increase muscles and lose weight, as well as internalization of the thin/low body fat ideal and muscular ideal. Overall, support for partial invariance was found across the scales. In addition, group level differences were found between countries as well as along demographic factors including gender, age, body mass index, and socioeconomic status. These findings make an important contribution by identifying these scales as useful tools that will support future crosscountry and cross-cultural examinations of explanatory models of the development of body image and eating concerns grounded within sociocultural theories.
Due to the public health concerns associated with eating disorders and obesity, increasingly more attention is being paid to body image and body image difficulties. Body dissatisfaction, which is ubiquitous among girls and women, can be characterized as the difference between one’s perceived body size and one’s vision of the ideal body, particularly with regard to the desire to be thin. Body dissatisfaction has become so commonplace that it has been described as “normative discontent.” It is also considered one of the most robust risk and maintenance factors for clinical eating disorders. A wide range of risk factors contribute to the development of body dissatisfaction, including biological and physical factors, individual characteristics, and sociocultural influences. In addition, females who place a strong emphasis on thinness and physical appearance and routinely engage in body comparison are particularly vulnerable to experiencing body dissatisfaction. Body image problems and disordered eating behaviors know no boundaries; they impact females across age groups, ethnicities, cultures, socioeconomic levels, and social identities. Therefore, it is essential for health professionals to understand body image and risk factors for the development of body dissatisfaction. They should also be knowledgeable about body image assessment techniques and evidence-based interventions aimed at promoting positive body image. Armed with this insight, health professionals will be in position to foster positive body image and enhance wellness and quality of life among females throughout the lifespan.
Background
Adolescent girls appear more vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties from social media use than boys. The presence of sexualized images online is thought to contribute, through increasing body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls. Sexual objectification through images may reinforce to adolescent girls that their value is based on their appearance. This study explored how sexualized images typically found on social media might influence adolescent girls’ mental health, in positive and/or negative ways.
Methods
In-depth interviews were conducted with girls aged 14-17 years (n=24) in Perth, Western Australia. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results
Participants identified body image as a major concern, reporting negative appearance comparisons when viewing images on social media. Appearance comparisons were perceived to exacerbate adolescent girls’ appearance-based concerns. Comparisons also influenced adolescent girls’ efforts to change their appearance and seek validation on social media. The importance of awareness and education from a younger age about social media and its influence on body image was emphasized, as was the need for strategies to promote positive body image and counteract negative body image.
Conclusion
The findings of this study have important implications for professionals working with adolescent girls and for the development of health promotion programs addressing social media use and body image concerns.
This chapter takes a biopsychosocial approach and uses the Tripartite Influence Model to explore how body image influences adolescents. Instead of focusing on solely one factor that might exacerbate body image concerns for the adolescent population, the chapter investigates various sources and mechanisms throughout an adolescent's development from which body image disturbance may originate, ranging from pubertal factors to the media. It also offers a comparison of body ideals and body image concerns across cultures, further showcasing the way body image is constructed. Research does suggest that body image can be improved. Thus, a range of interventions to promote positive body image are discussed, relying on methods from cognitive-dissonance to Dance and Movement Therapy.
Eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) has been identified as a behavioral phenotype for obesity. Few studies have reported on objective measures of EAH in adolescents, and fewer yet have objectively measured EAH in a naturalistic, home setting. The purpose of this paper was to examine relations between objective, adolescent-report and parent-report measures of EAH, and to examine variation by sex and race. Participants included 295 predominantly low-income and rural adolescents (mean age = 14.2 ± 0.6 years) and their parents, drawn from the Family Life Project. An EAH task was administered in the home following an ad-libitum meal and compulsory milkshake; EAH was also reported on a web-based survey (both adolescent and parent reports) and adolescents’ BMIz was calculated from height and weight, measured in the home or self-reported on the web survey. A high degree of variability in EAH intake was observed (range = 8–741 kcals). Parent and adolescent reports of EAH were weakly correlated and unrelated to observed EAH consumption; only adolescent reports of EAH were related to their BMIz. Several relations varied by sex and race. Positive associations between reported and observed EAH was only observed in girls, and positive associations between observed EAH and BMI was only observed in boys and in white adolescents. Overall EAH consumption was significantly greater in boys and in white adolescents. These findings suggest that EAH can be measured in adolescents in the home. In this sample of youth experiencing rural poverty, this home-based measure appears most valid for white adolescent girls.
The dual pathway model (DPM) for bulimia nervosa (BN) symptoms proposes that increased body mass index (BMI) leads to pressures to be thin, and body dissatisfaction. Pressures to be thin are also thought to lead to thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction. According to the model, the effects of body dissatisfaction on BN symptoms are mediated via two pathways: dietary restraint and negative affect. Despite its theoretical appeal in being able to capture the multifaceted etiology of BN symptoms, only a few studies have been able to capture the DPM empirically. This chapter aimed to review all the cross-sectional and longitudinal studies to date that have assessed the DPM empirically in its entirety using path analyses or structural equation modeling (SEM). A total of ten studies were retrieved (five cross-sectional and five longitudinal). Overall, there was decent support for most of the paths included in the DPM both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Understanding the processes that lead to BN symptoms has the potential to prevent and reduce the deleterious effects of BN symptoms.
Purpose
The study aimed to analyse the nutritional quality of self-proposed or prescribed weight-loss diets shared by female Korean adolescents through a social media platform and identified potential dietary problems.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 317 weight-loss diets, shared by 107 female adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 in April 2019, were collected from three Kakao Open Chat rooms of which the main topic was “weight-loss diet”. The weight-loss diets were converted to daily energy and nutrient intake.
Findings
Approximately two-thirds of the subjects were normal or underweight, and more than half of them were limiting energy intake to less than half of the recommended daily amounts. The average daily intake of energy and most nutrients did not meet the standard intake levels. Approximately 20% of the subjects were breakfast skippers, while 8 and 5% were dinner and lunch skippers, respectively. Notably, meal skippers tended to fast longer and have an uneven distribution of daily energy intake per meal. The percentages of energy contribution from macronutrients, particularly carbohydrates, also deviated more from the acceptable range in the meal skippers. The weight-loss diets of the subjects with particularly low daily energy intake were categorised into simplified, unbalanced and nutrient-poor, energy-dense meals. Overall, the nutritional quality of the self-proposed or prescribed weight-loss diets was poor. More effective and proactive educational interventions in school environments should be developed to promote positive eating behaviours in adolescents and free them from their obsession with body image.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to analyse the nutritional quality of female adolescents' self-proposed or prescribed weight-loss diets.
Previous research has shown that media messages affect body image in emerging adults. Furthermore, parental body image messages and parent–child relationship quality have also been shown to affect emerging adult body image. However, little research has examined the relationships among these variables collectively. Thus, the current study examined the indirect effects of media body image messages and parent–child relationship quality on emerging adult body esteem through parental body image messages. Participants included 555 college-attending emerging adults (72.1% female) who completed online surveys assessing media messages, parental messages, parent–child relationship quality, and body esteem. Results indicated a significant indirect effect of maternal parent–child relationship quality and negative media body image messages on male and female emerging adult body esteem via negative parental body image messages.
We examined how gender, body mass, race, age, and sexual orientation were linked to appearance evaluation, overweight preoccupation, and body image-related quality of life among 11,620 adults recruited via Mechanical Turk. Men were less likely than women to report low appearance evaluation, high overweight preoccupation, negative effects of body image on their quality of life, being on a weight-loss diet, and trying to lose weight with crash diets/fasting. Racial differences were generally small, but greater appearance evaluation was reported by Black men versus other groups and Black women versus White women. Across all measures, gay and bisexual men reported poorer body image than heterosexual men, with only small effect sizes observed for sexual orientation differences among women. Body mass, but not age, was strongly associated with body image. The prevalence of poor body image highlights the need for interventions. On the positive side, half of men and women reported high appearance evaluation. Examination of this group could identify factors promoting positive body image.
Previous research provides evidence of maternally transmitted body-related attentional biases in female adolescents. In contrast, it remains unclear whether a familial transmission of body-related attentional biases also exists within father-son dyads. Therefore, the current study examined n = 42 male adolescents and their fathers with respect to direct and indirect paternal influences on body-related attention patterns and specific body-related concerns in sons. Besides completing specific body image questionnaires, participants were shown pictures of their own and a respective peer’s body, while their eye movements were tracked. The fathers additionally viewed the body pictures of their own son and an adolescent peer. Contrary to the assumed direct and indirect paternal transmission processes, the sons’ body-related attention patterns were not significantly associated with the perceived amount of paternal body-related feedback, with the fathers’ attention patterns towards their own son’s and the adolescent peer’s body, or with the fathers’ attention patterns towards their own and the adult peer’s body. Similarly, no significant associations were found between direct or indirect paternal influences and the sons’ drives for muscularity and thinness, body dissatisfaction, and muscularity-related body-checking behavior. Comparing the present findings with previous research indicating a maternal transmission of body-related attentional biases and body-related concerns in female adolescents, alternative (not gender-linked) familial transmission processes, e.g., via one’s own mother, or a comparatively higher relevance of other sociocultural influences, e.g., via peers or the media, might be assumed for male adolescents.
We examined how demographic factors (gender, sexual orientation, racial group, age, body mass) were. linked to measures of sociocultural appearance concerns derived from objectification theory and the tripartite influence model (McKinley & Hyde, 1996; Schaefer et al., 2015) among 11,620 adults. Men were less likely than women to report high body surveillance, thin-ideal internalization, appearance-related media pressures, and family pressures; did not differ in peer pressures; and reported greater muscle/athletic internalization. Both men and women expressed greater desire for their bodies to look “very lean” than to look “very thin”. Compared to gay men, heterosexual men reported lower body surveillance, thin-ideal internalization, peer pressures, and media pressures. Black women reported lower thin-ideal internalization than White, Hispanic, and Asian women, whereas Asian women reported greater family pressures. Being younger and having higher BMIs were associated with greater sociocultural appearance concerns across most measures. The variation in prevalence of sociocultural appearance concerns across these demographic
groups highlights the need for interventions.
This study examined young girls enrolled in preschool to junior high school in Japan to clarify their mothers' influence on their body dissatisfaction and weight loss behaviors. The survey participants comprised 790 Japanese women aged 20 to 55 years (mean age 37.5 years, SD = 6.28 years) with daughters aged 3–14 years enrolled in preschool to junior high school. Results indicated that a mother's pressure affected her daughter's body dissatisfaction and ultimately her weight loss behavior. The association was confirmed in a wide range of ages from preschoolers to junior high school students. It can be suggested that the message from their mothers over a long period may lead to girls' body dissatisfaction and consequently weight loss behavior from a young age. Intervention for body dissatisfaction is needed for mothers and children starting at a very early age stage.
The detrimental impact of sociocultural pressures on adolescents’ body image has been widely established. However, it remains unclear why or for whom such pressures lead to increased appearance ideals internalization and appearance comparison. This cross-sectional study investigated moderating and indirect effects of identity confusion/synthesis in the relationship between (1) sociocultural pressures and (2) appearance ideals internalization and appearance comparison. The study comprised 685 community adolescents (13–19 years; Mage = 14.80; SDage = 0.93; 55.2% girls). Participants completed self-report questionnaires on sociocultural pressures (Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-4; SATAQ-4), identity confusion/synthesis (Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory; EPSI), thin-ideal and muscular-ideal internalization (SATAQ-4), and appearance comparison (Physical Appearance Comparison Scale; PACS). Structural equation models with latent variables were estimated. The current results pointed to both moderating and indirect effects of identity formation in the relationship between sociocultural pressures and appearance ideals internalization and appearance comparison in boys and girls. No significant differences were found between boys and girls in the moderating or indirect models. These results highlight the need to integrate identity functioning in sociocultural theories on body image formation, and to address a healthy identity development in prevention and intervention programs targeting appearance ideals internalization and appearance comparison in adolescents.
The stigmatization of larger bodies is omnipresent in Western society and may be associated with fear of fat, one of the core elements of body image and eating concerns. To date, while much work has focused on sociocultural influences towards thinness, parallel work exploring sociocultural influence on fear of fat is lacking. This study therefore aimed to develop and evaluate a measure of sociocultural influences on fear of fat (SI-FAT). Study 1 included N = 235 women, mean (SD) age = 19.75 (1.35) years; a subsample of whom provided additional data two-weeks later (n = 140). Exploratory factor analyses supported a four-factor structure with 4-item media, peer, family, and partner subscales. These subscales revealed excellent internal and test-rest reliability. In addition, support for convergent validity with body dissatisfaction, fear of fat, and rigid dietary control emerged. Study 2, among N = 317 women, 19.82 (SD = 1.5) years, further supported the factor structure and provided additional evidence of convergent validity with weight-based teasing, divergent validity with anti-fat attitudes, and incremental validity in the prediction of dietary restriction above and beyond anti-fat bias. Together, findings suggest that the SI-FAT is a useful tool for assessing sociocultural influences on fear of fat.
Objective: Sociocultural theories hold that family and peer weight‐related teasing increases the risk for unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) by negatively impacting body image. Although much cross‐sectional support exists for these pathways, longitudinal data are lacking. This study tested the longitudinal relationships among peer and family teasing (occurrence and perceived impact) in early adolescence, body satisfaction in late adolescence, and UWCBs in young adulthood among a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population.
Method: Data were drawn from three waves of Project EAT over a 15‐year period (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), and included responses from 1,902 young adults (57% female).
Results: Among female participants, a mediated indirect pathway emerged with family weight‐related teasing predicting increased engagement in UWCBs in early adulthood via poorer body image in late adolescence. In contrast, peer teasing did not predict body image or UWCBs. Among boys, the mediated indirect pathways were not significant. However, poor body image in late adolescent males predicted higher likelihood of engaging in UCWBs in early adulthood.
Discussion: These findings support the long‐term impact of family weight‐related teasing on greater risk for UWCBs among girls and young women, and poor body image as a mechanism accounting for this relationship. Moreover, the results highlight the poor body image among adolescent boys as a factor for increased risk of engaging in UWCBs in early adulthood. Pending replication in current cohorts, health promotion and prevention involving family members of early adolescents that address family weight teasing and body image are needed. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23492
Background:
Current studies on Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) are predominantly correlational and have largely been conducted outside of the U.S. with little attention to cultural aspects. This study aimed to qualitatively examine ON-related attitudes and behaviors among U.S. college students, with a particular focus on exploring concerns related to healthy eating and diet quality as defined by proposed diagnostic criteria, body image concerns and disordered eating, and sociocultural influences.
Method:
Eighteen women and 3 men, aged 18-23 years (M = 19.5, SD = 1.6), who had reported high levels of ON symptoms participated in individual interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and examined for evidence of the proposed diagnostic criteria of ON. In addition, thematic analysis was conducted to examine concurrent body image and eating concerns, as well as sociocultural influences.
Results:
The patterns of the presence of diagnostic criteria varied, with the importance of food quality, and associated severely restricted eating patterns emerging as some of the most common elements. Six themes emerged from the thematic analysis: healthy eating concerns and diet quality, frequency and nature of food-related thoughts, definitions of healthy eating and healthy foods, disordered eating and body image, interpersonal social influence, and media and other influence from the broader social context.
Discussion:
The findings suggest that ON symptoms may be concurrent with, or an evolution of other eating disorder presentations. In addition, our results highlight the role of family and sociocultural factors in ON, pointing to the usefulness of examining these behaviors within sociocultural frameworks that have been successfully applied to other types of disordered eating.
Studies of the Tripartite Influence Model conducted with female samples suggest that thinness-oriented pressures, internalization, and appearance comparisons may be risk factors for disordered eating. However, limited work has investigated this model among men utilizing measures specifically designed to assess both muscularity- and thinness-oriented processes, which characterize male body image concerns. To address this gap, the current study examined the Tripartite Influence Model of disordered eating among men using a battery of such measures. A convenience sample of 265 male undergraduates completed validated, self-report measures of disordered eating, muscularity- and thinness-oriented appearance pressures, internalization, and appearance comparisons. Path analyses supported a slightly modified version of the Tripartite Influence Model, indicating direct and indirect paths from sociocultural pressures to disordered eating via internalization and appearance comparisons. These results provide support for a version of the Tripartite Influence Model among men. Specifically, muscularity- and thinness-oriented pressures appear to be related to disordered eating among college men via indirect pathways involving thin internalization, muscular internalization, and appearance comparisons. Future work is needed, however, to examine whether the model would generalize to muscularity-oriented disordered eating.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between several forms of parental mediation and adolescents' television processing, emotions while viewing, and body image disturbance. A survey of both parents and adolescents (at two stages) revealed that most traditional measures of parental mediation were not significantly related to any adolescent outcomes. However, measures that captured the extent to which parents discussed characters' appearance and body size were consistent predictors of the same outcomes. The data revealed that parental mediation of this incidental content—even if it criticized the television images—encouraged deep processing of the images and negative emotions, which in turn led to indicators of body image disturbance. The implications of these findings for research on both parental mediation and body image are discussed.
Three hundred and eighty-five girls ages 10 through 14 years were surveyed about eating behavior, body satisfaction, concern with being slender, and cues from parents, peers, and magazines in regard to weight management techniques and the importance of slenderness. A majority reported receiving a clear message from fashion magazines and peers or family members that slenderness is important and attainable through dieting and other methods. Two strong correlates of drive for thinness and disturbed patterns of eating were (a) reading magazines that contain information and ideas about an attractive body shape and about weight management, and (b) weight/shape-related teasing and criticism by family. This study indicates that body dissatisfaction and weight concerns reflect adoption of a socially approved female role. It also raises the possibility that some young adolescent girls live in a subculture of intense weight and body-shape concern that places them at risk for disordered eating behavior:
This study tests the explanatory power of an integrated sociocultural and personality model in predicting bulimic symptomatology. Family, peer, and personality factors were assessed at three levels of analysis. The first level of the model measured the general functioning of the family system and friendship network. The second level assessed the extent to which the family system and friendship network were concerned with issues of weight and dieting, as well as the rate of eating disorders among members in these groups. The third level investigated the relationship of certain personality variables to bulimic symptoms. Based on self-report data from approximately 400 high school girls, correlates of bulimic symptomatology at each of the three levels of analysis were identified. An integrated model, in which the three levels of analysis were considered in unison, demonstrated that risk factors at each level of analysis cumulatively contribute to an increase in bulimic symptoms.
The Bulimia Test (M. C. Smith and M. H. Thelen; see record
1985-02946-001) was revised (BULIT—R) to accommodate the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised (DSM-III—R) criteria of bulimia nervosa. A 28-item, self-report, multiple-choice scale was developed by comparing responses of clinically identified female bulimics with those of female college students. Cross-validation was performed on independent samples of bulimic and college control Ss. The BULIT—R was a good predictor of group membership. The scale was then completed by female college students, and a stratified sample of these Ss was retested and interviewed approximately 2 mo later. The results of retesting and diagnostic judgments based on interviews showed that the BULIT—R was a reliable and valid predictor of bulimia nervosa in a nonclinical population. The BULIT—R correlated highly with 2 other measures of bulimia, indicating a high degree of construct validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The connections between body image disturbance and psychological functioning have been well established in samples of older adolescent girls and young women. Little is known, however, about body image in younger children. In particular, little is known about possible gender differences in preadolescent children. The current study explored self-reported body image disturbance and psychological functioning in relation to peer and parental influences in 141 elementary school-aged girls and boys aged 8-11. Results suggest that girls are more concerned about dieting and are more preoccupied with their weight than are boys. Girls also reported a greater drive for thinness and a higher level of family history of eating concerns than did boys. Correlations suggested that girls' experiences of body image concerns (body dissatisfaction, bulimia, and drive for thinness) were related to a number of factors (such as family history of eating concerns, peer influences, teasing, depression, and global self-worth) whereas boys' experiences of body image concerns were related to fewer factors. On the basis of these findings, the assessment and treatment of body image concerns in preadolescent children (especially girls) are of great importance. Implications for intervention and prevention programs are discussed.
The current study expands upon body image research to examine how gender, self-esteem, social support, teasing, and family,
friend, and media pressures relate to body image and eating-related attitudes and behaviors among male and female adolescents
(N=177). Results indicated that adolescents were dissatisfied with their current bodies: males were concerned with increasing
their upper body, whereas females wanted to decrease the overall size of their body. Low self-esteem and social support, weight-related
teasing, and greater pressures to lose weight were associated with adolescents’ negative body esteem, body image, and eating
attitudes. Females displayed more high risk eating behaviors—which were associated with more psychosocial risk factors—than
males, whose high risk attitudes and behaviors were only associated with low parental support and greater pressure to be muscular.
Reducing adolescents’ perceptions of appearance-related pressure from family and friends may be key for enhancing body image
and decreasing links between low self-esteem and negative eating behaviors and weight-related perceptions.
Synopsis
Data on the development of a 40-item measure of the symptoms in anorexia nervosa are reported. The scale (EAT) is presented in a 6-point, forced choice, self-report format which is easily administered and scored. The EAT was validated using 2 groups of female anorexia nervosa patients ( N = 32 and 33) and female control subjects ( N = 34 and 59). Total EAT score was significantly correlated with criterion group membership( r = 0·87, P < 0·001), suggesting a high level of concurrent validity. There was very little overlap in the frequency distributions of the 2 groups and only 7% of the normal controls scored as high as the lowest anorexic patient. Female obese and male subjects also scored significantly lower on the EAT than anorexics. Recovered anorexic patients scored in the normal range on the test, suggesting that the EAT is sensitive to clinical remission.
We examined features of 77 mothers' attitudes and behavior that relate to disordered eating among their adolescent daughters. Mothers whose daughters reported a level of disordered eating comparable with clinical samples of bulimic patients were compared with mothers whose daughters reported a low level of eating disturbances. As hypothesized, mothers of daughters with disordered eating were more dissatisfied with the general functioning of the family system. Also, mothers whose daughters were eating disordered were themselves more eating disordered and differed in their dieting history compared with mothers of the girls who were not eating disordered. Furthermore, mothers of girls with disordered eating thought their daughters should lose more weight than mothers of girls who were not eating disordered. They also thought that their daughters were less attractive than the girls judged themselves.
Synopsis
Psychometric and clinical correlates of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) are described for a large sample of female anorexia nervosa ( N = 160) and female comparison ( N = 140) subjects. An abbreviated 26-item version of the EAT (EAT-26) is proposed, based on a factor analysis of the original scale (EAT-40). The EAT-26 is highly correlated with the EAT-40 ( r = 0·98) and three factors form subscales which are meaningfully related to bulimia, weight, body-image variables and psychological symptoms. Whereas there are no differces between bulimic and restricter anorexia nervosa patients on the total EAT-26 and EAT-40 scores, these groups do indicate significant differences on EAT-26 fractors. Norms for the anorexia nervosa and female comparison subjects are presented for the EAT-26, EAT-40 and the EAT-26 factors. It is concluded that the EAT-26 is a reliable, valid and economical instrument which may be useful as an objective measure of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa.
More than a decade of research has characterized the families of individuals with bulimia and bulimia anorexia (Anorexia Nervosa, Binge/Purging Type) as less expressive, less cohesive, and experiencing more conflicts than normal control families. This two‐part study investigated variables believed more directly related to disturbed eating and bulimia as contributing to a “family climate for eating disorders.” In Study 1, a nonclinical sample of 324 women who had just left home for college and a sample of 121 mothers evaluated their families. Principal‐components analyses revealed the same factor structure for both students and mothers, with Family Body Satisfaction, Family Social Appearance Orientation, and Family Achievement Emphasis loading together, representing the hypothesized family climate for eating disorders; the remaining variables loaded with the more traditional family process variables (conflict, cohesion, expressiveness), representing a more general family dysfunction. As predicted, the family climate for eating disorders factor score was a more powerful predictor of disturbed eating. Study 2 extended these findings into a clinical population, examining whether the family climate for eating disorders variables would distinguish individuals with bulimia from both depressed and healthy controls. Groups of eating‐disordered patients (n = 40) and depressed (n = 17) and healthy (n = 27) controls completed family measures. The eating‐disordered group scored significantly higher on family climate variables than control groups. Family process variables distinguished clinical groups (depressed and eating disordered) from healthy controls, but not from one another. Controlling for depression removed group differences on family process variables, but family climate variables continued to distinguish the eating‐disordered group from both control groups. Indications for further research are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 55: 1021–1040, 1999.
This meta-analytic review of prospective and experimental studies reveals that several accepted risk factors for eating pathology have not received empirical support (e.g., sexual abuse) or have received contradictory support (e.g., dieting). There was consistent support for less-accepted risk factors(e.g., thin-ideal internalization) as well as emerging evidence for variables that potentiate and mitigate the effects of risk factors(e.g., social support) and factors that predict eating pathology maintenance(e.g., negative affect). In addition, certain multivariate etiologic and maintenance models received preliminary support. However, the predictive power of individual risk and maintenance factors was limited, suggesting it will be important to search for additional risk and maintenance factors, develop more comprehensive multivariate models, and address methodological limitations that attenuate effects.
The development of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) with scales for restrained, emotional, and external eating is described. Factor analyses have shown that all items on restrained and external eating each have high loadings on one factor, but items on emotional eating have two dimensions, one dealing with eating in response to diffuse emotions, and the other with eating in response to clearly labelled emotions. The pattern of corrected item-total correlation coefficients and of the factors was very similar for various subsamples, which indicates a high degree of stability of dimensions on the eating behavior scales. The norms and Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the scales and also the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess interrelationships between scales indicate that the scales have a high internal consistency and factorial validity. However, their external validity has yet to be investigated.
Hypotheses about age-related differences in objectified body consciousness (OBC; McKinley & Hyde, 1996) based on the cultural, developmental, and familial contexts of women's body experience were tested on 151 undergraduate women and their middle-aged mothers. Mothers had lower levels of surveillance (watching the body as an outside observer) and body shame (feeling one is a bad person when appearance does not meet cultural standards) than daughters. No differences were found in appearance control beliefs, body esteem, or restricted eating, even though mothers weighed more and were less satisfied with their weight than daughters. OBC was related to measures of psychological well-being in both age groups; body esteem was more strongly related to some measures of daughters' psychological well-being than mothers'. Relationships of partner and family approval and OBC and body esteem were also examined.
Objective: This study examined the importance of potential risk factors for eating disorder onset in a large multiethnic sample followed for up to 3 years, with assessment instruments validated for the target population and a structured clinical interview used to make diagnoses. Method: Participants were 1,103 girls initially assessed in grades 6-9 in school districts in Arizona and California. Each year, students completed the McKnight Risk Factor Survey, had body height and weight measured, and underwent a structured clinical interview. The McKnight Risk Factor Survey, a self-report instrument developed for this age group, includes questions related to risk factors for eating disorders. Results: During follow-up, 32 girls (2.9%) developed a partial- or full-syndrome eating disorder. At the Arizona site, there was a significant interaction between Hispanics and higher scores on a factor measuring thin body preoccupation and social pressure in predicting onset of eating disorders. An increase in negative life events also predicted onset of eating disorders in this sample. At the California site, only thin body preoccupation and social pressure predicted onset of eating disorders. A four-item screen derived from thin body preoccupation and social pressure had a sensitivity of 0.72, a specificity of 0.80, and an efficiency of 0.79. Conclusions: Thin body preoccupation and social pressure are important risk factors for the development of eating disorders in adolescents. Some Hispanic groups are at risk of developing eating disorders. Efforts to reduce peer, cultural, and other sources of thin body peeoccupation may be necessary to prevent eating disorders.
The current study was designed to replicate previous research documenting the links between exposure to thinness norms and eating pathology and to extend it by examining the influence of personality and environmental factors hypothesized to be protective. Questionnaire and anthropometric data were provided by 249 undergraduate women during a single session. Multiple regression analyses were then used to establish that internalization of a "thin ideal" and body dissatisfaction mediated the relation between exposure to thinness norms and eating pathology. Further, personality measures reflecting nonconformity, self-esteem, and perceived shape, as well as the social influences of family, moderated the links between exposure to thinness norms and eating pathology. Nonconformity and low family pressures to control weight moderated the relation between exposure to thinness norms and internalization of such norms; perceived shape moderated the relation between thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction; self-esteem moderated the relation between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. These findings suggest that family environment and personal attributes may play key roles in the development of eating disorders, with potentially important implications for preventive interventions.
The development of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) with scales for restrained, emotional, and external eating is described. Factor analyses have shown that all items on restrained and external eating each have high loadings on one factor, but items on emotional eating have two dimensions, one dealing with eating in response to diffuse emotions, and the other with eating in response to clearly labelled emotions. The pattern of corrected item-total correlation coefficients and of the factors was very similar for various subsamples, which indicates a high degree of stability of dimensions on the eating behavior scales. The norms and Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the scales and also the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess interrelationships between scales indicate that the scales have a high internal consistency and factorial validity. However, their external validity has yet to be investigated.
The current study evaluated the variables associated with disordered eating and body dissatisfaction among early adolescent girls. The impact of the following variables on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating were assessed: perceived views of society, parents and peers regarding weight, self esteem, locus of control, onset of menarche, body mass index and the importance placed on appearance. One hundred and eleven girls enrolled in year 7, aged between 11 to 13 years (x=12.46) participated in this study. The results indicated that young adolescent girls expressed moderate levels of disordered eating and moderate dissatisfaction with their bodies. Respondents who were more dissatisfied with their bodies exhibited higher levels of disordered eating. The most important predictors of body dissatisfaction were self esteem, body mass index, and the perceived views of society. Prediction of disordered eating was not improved by the perceived views of significant others, after the other variables were accounted for. Limitations and direction of future research are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
To assess prospectively the influence of peers, parents, and the media on the development of weight concerns and frequent dieting.
Prospective cohort study.
Questionnaires mailed annually to participants throughout the United States.
One-year follow-up of 6770 girls and 5287 boys who completed questionnaires in 1996 and 1997 and were between 9 and 14 years of age in 1996.
Onset of high levels of concern with weight and dieting frequently to control weight.
During 1 year of follow-up, 6% of girls and 2% of boys became highly concerned with weight and 2% of girls and 1% of boys became constant dieters. Peer influence was negligible. Independent of age and body mass index, both girls (odds ratio [OR]): 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-3.1) and boys (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1-6. 4) who were making a lot of effort to look like same-sex figures in the media were more likely than their peers to become very concerned with their weight. Moreover, both girls (OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-5.0) and boys (OR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.1-6.0) who reported that their thinness/lack of fat was important to their father were more likely than their peers to become constant dieters.
Our results suggest that parents and the media influence the development of weight concerns and weight control practices among preadolescents and adolescents. However, there are gender differences in the relative importance of these influences.
This article examines adolescent girls' weightloss behaviors and possible parent influences related toweight and shape. Questionnaires were completed by 369grade 10 girls and their parents. Findings suggested that parent encouragement to loseweight was a more significant predictor of daughterdietary restraint than parents' own dietary restraintlevels. Mother influence variables added significantly to a regression equation after fatherinfluences had been entered, but the reverse was not thecase. Parents' food abstaining behaviors, such asfasting and skipping meals, predicted food abstaining in daughters. Most findings were replicated whendaughter body size was controlled for. Implications formodels of the transmission of diet and weight-relatedvalues from parent to child are discussed.
Objective: The authors explored dieting and disordered eating in adolescent women and determined the associations among mothers', fathers' and daughters' eating attitudes and behaviors. Method: The authors surveyed 51 mother-father-daughter triads (N=153) concerning eating attitudes and behaviors. Results: Dieting was associated with disordered eating symptoms in adolescent females. Daughters were most likely to diet in families where mothers described them as overweight and commented on their weight. Daughters' weight dissatisfaction was associated with fathers' weight dissatisfaction and comments on daughters' weights. Conclusions: Eating attitudes and behaviors in daughters are associated with weight concerns expressed by parents.
Participants in this study were 221 female undergraduate students who completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and the Parental Eating and Weight Messages Survey. As predicted, the results indicate there is a perception by young women with elevated eating disturbance and concerns with weight and body shape, and greater dissatisfaction with current weight that their mothers communicated negative verbal messages about eating and weight. It was also found that young women with a lower level of eating disturbance perceived that their mothers communicated positive verbal messages about weight and eating. Additionally, there appears to be a relationship between the perception of negative messages made by fathers to mothers about their mothers' weight, and daughters' elevated disordered eating scores.
Examined the emergence of eating problems in adolescent girls as a function of pubertal growth, body image, personality development, and family relationships. 193 White females and their mothers were seen in middle-school years (
M age = 13.93 years) and 2 years later. Results showed that girls who early in adolescence felt most negatively about their bodies were more likely to develop eating problems (on EAT-26) 2 years later. Concurrently, Time 1 eating problems were associated with body fat, grade, negative body image, and psychopathology, but not family relationships. At Time 2, adolescent body image and internalizing dimensions of psychopathology predicted problem-eating scores, as did maternal body image and depression. Findings are discussed in terms of adolescent patterns of adaptation, developmental psychopathology, and the study's relevance for understanding clinical eating disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Body image issues are at the core of major eating disorders. They are also important phenomena in and of themselves. Kevin Thompson and his colleagues provide an overview of a wide variety of body image issues, ranging from reconstructive surgery to eating disorders. The book will be a valuable resource for even the most established researchers in the field, as it is filled with data, information about assessment tools, and a thorough treatment of virtually all major theoretical perspectives on the development of body image and their implications for treatment and prevention. At the same time, the authors' decision to include numerous experiential anecdotes makes the book easily accessible to those just entering the field who are trying to understand the nature of these phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Much has happened since the first volume of
Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth was published in 2001. Since that time, there has been an explosion of research output in these three areas. The goal for this new edition is to assimilate the recent information into a form that is easily accessible for researchers, clinicians, and students. Our inspiration is provided by not only the interest and support of our colleagues, but our own personal experiences (and those of our colleagues) with the many young girls and boys who struggle with body image and weight-related problems. Finally, on a much more personal note, both of us have encountered situations with our own children and grandchildren related to body image, eating, and weight issues, and these continue to not only fuel our motivation to remain active in this area but also provide unique anecdotes that affect our perspectives. We hope that this new volume stimulates even more research in the areas of body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) estimates are important for accurately estimating the individual and community burden from eating disorders and cost-utility of treatments. Aims: The aim was to conduct a systematic review in order to evaluate and compare attempts to estimate HRQOL in eating disorders (EDs). Method: A MEDLINE database and Quality of Life Research Journal search was conducted for relevant English-language papers that used validated measures of HRQOL and ED diagnostic symptoms. Results: Fifteen papers were identified which all supported EDs having a substantial impact on individual's HRQOL, in the mental health domain, that in some studies remained when controlling for body weight. Some studies indicated that presence of psychiatric co-morbidity increases the impact of the ED. In one study, when accounting for prevalence, community burden estimates were for EDs low relative to mood disorders. Findings were mixed for participants with AN, possibly reflecting its ego-syntonic nature. Conclusions: An important gap identified was the paucity of large scale community-based studies. In order to better estimate the “true” costs of EDs there is an urgent need for such research, and studies that include psychiatric control groups as well as medically ill and well groups. Declaration of interest: none.
IntroductionMedical Burdens of Eating DisordersEconomic Burdens of Eating DisordersAcademic, Occupational and Social Burdens of Eating DisordersSummaryAcknowledgementsReferences A Spectrum of Costs. Authored by Niva PiranReducing the Multiple Burdens of Suffering: Accessing Care for Eating Disorders. Authored by Ruth H. Striegel-Moore and Debra FrankoWhere Does the Burden Come from? Authored by W. Stewart AgrasEconomic Burden and the Eating Disorders. Authored by Paul GarfinkelEating Disorders: Time to Count the Cost. Authored by Arthur CrispThe Hidden Burdens of Eating Disorders. Authored by Robert L. PalmerDifferential Treatments for Eating Disorders Might Reduce Social and Economic Burden. Authored by Maria Råstam and Christopher GillbergThe Burdens of Eating Disorders Are Rarely Recognized. Authored by Pauline S. Powers and Yvonne BannonCounting the Cost of Counting the Calories. Authored by Lois J. SurgenorWhat about the Family Burden of Eating Disorders? Authored by Angela FavaroA Field with Important Issues Awaiting Investigation. Authored by Aris Liakos
Various factors have been implicated in the development of body image dissatisfaction. Especially important are three constructs: awareness of a thin ideal, internalization of a thin ideal, and perceived pressures to be thin. Using meta-analysis, we calculated the strength of the relationships between each of these constructs and body image, and we evaluated the differences in magnitude across the average effect sizes. We also tested the moderating effects of age and ethnicity, and we compared the average effect sizes with those from meta-analyses of prospective and experimental studies in order to determine whether the effect sizes differed by study design. The results indicated the following: all three sociocultural factors had statistically significant relationships with body image; internalization and perceived pressures have a significantly stronger relationship to body image than does awareness; the effect sizes from cross-sectional studies were significantly larger than those of both longitudinal and experimental studies; and neither age nor ethnicity was a statistically significant moderator of the relationship between awareness and body image or that between internalization and body image. In this article, we discuss the limitations and implications of the findings on future research, theory, and clinical application.
This study examined the relationship between mothers' eating attitudes and weight-loss attempts and their adolescent daughters' body dissatisfaction and weight-loss attempts. Two modes of transmission of mother's values to the daughter (modeling and encouragement) and two forms of weight-loss behavior (moderate and extreme) were examined. Female 10th and llth graders and their mothers completed eating attitudes and behaviors questionnaires. Daughter's moderate weight-loss attempts (e.g., dietary restraint and exercising) and its associated body dissatisfaction were significantly associated with mother's encouraging her daughter to lose weight. In contrast, daughter's more extreme weight-loss behaviors (e.g., fasting, crash dieting, and skipping meals) were predicted by mother's reports of her own body dissatisfaction and mother's use of extreme weight-loss behaviors herself. These effects were not simply an artefact of daughter's body weight. Implications for theory and prevention were noted.
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.