The contribution of peer and media influences to the development of body satisfaction and self-esteem in young girls: A prospective study.

This study aimed to prospectively examine the role of peer and media influences in the development of body satisfaction (incorporating the desire for thinness and satisfaction with appearance) in young girls, as well as the relationship between body satisfaction and self-esteem. A sample of 97 girls 5-8 years of age completed individual interviews at Time 1 and 1 year later at Time 2. Linear panel analyses found that Time 1 perception of peers' desire for thinness was temporally antecedent to girls' desire for thinness, appearance satisfaction, and self-esteem 1 year later. In addition, the watching of appearance-focused television programs was temporally antecedent to appearance satisfaction. Finally, girls' desire for thinness was found to temporally precede low self-esteem. Thus, as early as school entry, girls appear to already live in a culture in which peers and the media transmit the thin ideal in a way that negatively influences the development of body image and self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociocultural factors and the development of disordered eating: A longitudinal analysis of competing hypotheses.

Sociocultural models hypothesize causal paths in the development of eating disorders, yet few longitudinal studies have controlled for temporal stability, leaving open the question as to causality and the directionality of effects. In the present study, the authors tested portions of the socioculturally based dual-pathway model, specifically, the risk factor hypotheses that internalization of the thin ideal predicts body dissatisfaction, that body dissatisfaction predicts depressive affect, and that depressive affect predicts disordered eating. The authors also examined competing hypotheses (e.g., disordered eating predicts depressive affect) as well as the possibility of simultaneous relationships (i.e., variables would be related to one another within a time frame). The 6 models (3 cross-lagged and 3 simultaneous) were evaluated using 236 female freshmen who provided self-report data during their 1st semester in college and 6 months later. While controlling for temporal stability, structural equation modeling revealed that (a) internalization and body image each were related to the other across time; (b) body image was related directionally, but only in the simultaneous context, to depressive affect; and (c) depressive affect and disordered eating were related reciprocally and temporally to one another. Directions for future research and implications for intervention are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective predictors of body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys: A five-year longitudinal study.

This study investigated prospective risk factors for increases in body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys in the Eating Among Teens Project. At the time of first assessment (Time 1), participants were a cohort of early adolescent girls (N=440) and boys (N=366) and a cohort of middle adolescent girls (N=946) and boys (N=764). Participants were followed up 5 years later (Time 2). Potential prospective risk factors examined included body mass index, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, parent dieting environment, peer environment, and psychological factors. Predictors of Time 2 body dissatisfaction were Time 1 body dissatisfaction, body mass index, socioeconomic status, being African American, friend dieting and teasing, self-esteem, and depression. However, the profile of predictors differed across the samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls: A longitudinal investigation.

Because few prospective studies have examined predictors of body dissatisfaction--an established risk factor for eating disorders--the authors tested whether a set of sociocultural, biological, interpersonal, and affective factors predicted increases in body dissatisfaction using longitudinal data from adolescent girls (N=496). Elevated adiposity, perceived pressure to be thin, thin-ideal internalization, and social support deficits predicted increases in body dissatisfaction, but early menarche, weight-related teasing, and depression did not. There was evidence of 2 distinct pathways to body dissatisfaction--1 involving pressure to be thin and 1 involving adiposity. Results support the contention that certain sociocultural, biological, and interpersonal factors increase the risk for body dissatisfaction, but suggest that other accepted risk factors are not related to this outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of body image dissatisfaction among overweight women seeking weight loss.

Predictors of body image dissatisfaction (BID) among obese people are poorly understood. In 79 obese women seeking weight reduction, associations with BID of self-esteem, youth teasing, adult teasing, and internalization of sociocultural appearance standards (ISAS) were studied. Analyses revealed that only self-esteem, adult teasing, and ISAS predicted BID. Results highlight the importance of adulthood self-esteem and interpersonal--cultural context--rather than childhood experiences--in predicting adulthood BID. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to images of dolls on the body image of 5- to 8-year-old girls.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 42(6) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2006-20488-033). A substantive error occurs in the Body shape dissatisfaction section on page 287. The sentence describing the calculation of body shape dissatisfaction scores from girls' responses to the Child Figure Rating Scale should instead read as follows: "A body shape dissatisfaction score was computed by subtracting the girl's actual from her ideal body size."] The ubiquitous Barbie doll was examined in the present study as a possible cause for young girls' body dissatisfaction. A total of 162 girls, from age 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image. Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions. However, this immediate negative impact of Barbie doll was no longer evident in the oldest girls. These findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls' body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociocultural attitudes and symptoms of bulimia: Evaluating the SATAQ with diverse college groups.

This study evaluated the utility of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ; L. J. Heinberg, J. K. Thompson, & S. Stormer, 1995) for the assessment of diverse college groups, including men, women, minorities, and sorority members. Scores from the SATAQ were compared with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2; D. M. Garner. 1991) for a sample of 405 college students at a large midwestem university. Significant group differences were observed on the scales assessing awareness of sociocultural pressures to be thin and internalization of these attitudes. These scores were highest among the Caucasian women, Caucasian sorority, and Hispanic sorority groups. However, construct validity was only demonstrated for the Internalization scale and was strongest for the Caucasian women, suggesting that sociocultural awareness may hold unique meaning for diverse groups. The need for the development of more specific measures assessing sociocultural pressures, internalization, and the implications for counseling psychologists is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective relations of body image, eating, and affective disturbances to smoking onset in adolescent girls: How Virginia slims.

This study tested whether body image, eating, and affective disturbances prospectively predicted onset of cigarette smoking in adolescent girls (N=496). Elevated body dissatisfaction and eating pathology, as well as elevated negative affectivity, showed significant univariate relations to subsequent onset of smoking. In the multivariate model, the effect for body image and eating disturbances remained significant, but the effect for negative affectivity did not. Results support the theory that body image and eating disturbances markedly increase risk for smoking initiation in adolescent girls and further establish the clinical significance of these disturbances. Results also support the theory that negative affect is a risk factor for smoking initiation but suggest that the self-medication model may have less predictive power than previously concluded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body Image Among Adolescent Girls and Boys: A Longitudinal Study.

This longitudinal study of adolescent girls and boys examined the contributions of social (peer appearance context), psychological (internalized appearance ideals and appearance social comparison), and biological (body mass) factors to the development of body dissatisfaction. Students (165 girls and 139 boys) completed questionnaires when they were either in 7th grade or 10th grade and again 1 year later. The results for the boys revealed a singular pathway to body dissatisfaction through internalized commitment to muscularity ideals. The prospective analyses of change in body dissatisfaction among the girls reflected the contributions of appearance conversations with friends, appearance social comparisons, and body mass. There was no evidence of mediation among the boys and limited support for it among the girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent psychological and social predictors of young adult smoking acquisition and cessation: A 10-year longitudinal study.

Objective: A 10-year follow-up study to test the extent to which theory-based adolescent psychological and social factors directly predict and moderate the prediction of young adult smoking acquisition and cessation. Design: A prospective community-based sample. A total of 2,970 adolescents participated in the large Washington State Hutchinson Smoking Prevention Project (HSPP) longitudinal cohort. As predictors, psychological factors (i.e., parentnoncompliance, friendcompliance, rebelliousness, achievement motivation, and thrill seeking) and social environmental factors (i.e., parent's and friend's smoking) were measured when adolescents were 17–18 years old. Main Outcome Measures: As main outcome measures, smoking acquisition and cessation were assessed both at ages 18 and 28. Results: Psychological and social factors predicted 3% to 7% probability (p     

Body image and asymmetry of body reactivity.

The hypothesis tested was that the more definitely one distinguishes the right and left sides of his body in his body image, the more likely he is to show differential reactivity in the left vs. right sides of his body. Ss compared homologous body parts while viewing them through aniseikonic lenses to determine body-image differentiation. Body reactivity was determined by means of GSR recordings. Right handed Ss who clearly distinguished their right and left body sides were likely to show a GSR gradient showing the left side to be more reactive than the right. 21 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early predictors of sexually intimate behaviors in an urban sample of young girls.

In recent years, concern has been raised about girls’ involvement in sexual activity at progressively younger ages. Little is known about the prevalence of emerging intimate behaviors, the psychosocial factors associated with these behaviors, or the moderating effects of ethnicity on these associations in early adolescence. In the current prospective study, we examined the prevalence and predictors of sexually intimate behaviors at age 12 years in an urban community sample of 1,116 ethnically diverse girls. Cluster analysis revealed 3 groups at age 12: no sexual behavior, mild behavior (e.g., holding hands), and moderate behavior (e.g., laying together). Minority status girls reported higher rates of both mild and moderate sexually intimate behaviors compared with European American girls. After controlling for the significant effects of age 11 intimate behaviors, lifetime alcohol use, poor parent–child communication, deviant peer behavior, onset of menarche, and interactions between ethnicity and impulsivity, social self-worth and depression uniquely increased the odds of engaging in moderately intimate behaviors at age 12 years. Parenting characteristics increased the likelihood of moderate, relative to mild, behaviors. For European American girls only, high levels of impulsivity and low social self-worth were associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in moderate intimate behaviors, whereas high levels of depressive symptoms reduced the odds. The results suggest that early prevention efforts need to incorporate awareness of different social norms relating to sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's body satisfaction at midlife and lifetime body size: A prospective study.

The relationship between past body size and current body dissatisfaction among 933 middle-aged women from a prospective birth cohort study was examined. Women provided self-report data on weight esteem at age 54. Height and weight data were collected at ages 7, 11, 15, 20, 26, 36, 43, and 54. Data on reproductive variables were also collected prospectively. Hierarchical linear modeling and multiple regression analyses were used. Women who were dissatisfied at midlife were heavier at age 7 and showed a more rapid increase in body mass index with age. A late menarche, being postmenopausal, and having started hormone replacement therapy before menopause were associated with less dissatisfaction. Attention to these factors across the life span is necessary to understand body dissatisfaction in women at midlife. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of successful dietary restriction to change in bulimic symptoms: A prospective study of adolescent girls.

Recent experimental evidence that dietary restriction results in decreased bulimic and depressive symptoms seems inconsistent with findings from prospective studies and etiologic theory. However, because the dieting manipulated in these experiments may be unrepresentative of real-world weight loss dieting, the authors tested whether successful dietary restriction was associated with decreases in these outcomes by using longitudinal data from a school-based study of 496 adolescent girls. Moderately overweight participants who evidenced successful dietary restriction showed significantly greater decreases in bulimic symptoms than weight-matched participants who did not show successful dietary restriction; however, there were no effects for depressive symptoms. In conjunction with past experimental findings, results seem to imply that successful dietary restriction curbs bulimic symptoms, suggesting that current etiologic models may need revision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-rearing antecedents of intergenerational relations in young adulthood: A prospective study.

Data gathered from mothers on parenting and family climate when almost 1,000 children in the Dunedin, New Zealand, longitudinal study were 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15 years of age were used to predict intergenerational relations between young adult children (age 26) and their middle-aged parents. Analyses focused on distinct developmental epochs revealed greater prediction from the middle-childhood and early-adolescent periods than from the early-childhood years; most indicated that more supportive family environments and child-rearing experiences in the family of origin forecasted more positive and less negative parent-child relationships (in terms of contact, closeness, conflict, reciprocal assistance) in young adulthood, though associations were modest in magnitude. Some evidence indicated that (modestly) deleterious effects on intergenerational relations of experiencing relatively unsupportive child-rearing environments in 1 but not 2 (of 3) developmental periods studied could be offset by relatively supportive family environments in the remaining developmental periods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Head-body differentiations in body image and skin resistance level.

"The data support the hypothesis that different levels of reactivity in given body sectors are linked with corresponding differences in body image attitudes toward such sectors. Thus, when the head area was perceived as having large magnitude with reference to the body, it was characterized by relatively lower skin resistance (indicating greater reactivity) than that of the nonhead area… . These findings are congruent with previously reported correlations between body image boundary definiteness and body interior vs. body exterior reactivity… body image attitudes towards a given body sector may play a causative role in the level of reactivity of that sector." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image and eating disorder symptoms in sexual minority men: A test and extension of objectification theory.

On the basis of integrating objectification theory research with research on body image and eating problems among sexual minority men, the present study examined relations among sociocultural and psychological correlates of eating disorder symptoms with a sample of 231 sexual minority men. Results of a path analysis supported tenets of objectification theory with the sample. Specifically, findings were consistent with relations posited in objectification theory among sexual objectification experiences, internalization of cultural standards of attractiveness, body surveillance, body shame, and eating disorder symptoms. Within this set of positive relations, internalization of cultural standards of attractiveness partially mediated the link of sexual objectification experiences with body surveillance; body surveillance partially mediated the relation of internalization with body shame; and body shame partially mediated the relation of body surveillance with eating disorder symptoms. In addition to these relations, internalized homophobia was related to greater eating disorder symptoms through body shame, and recalled childhood harassment for gender nonconformity was linked with eating disorder symptoms through a positive series of relations involving internalization of cultural standards of attractiveness, body surveillance, and body shame. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image boundaries and patterns of body perception.

4 studies were undertaken to test hypotheses concerning the relationship of the definitness of the body image boundary to patterns of sensation from exterior and interior body regions. The measure of boundary definiteness utilized was the barrier score which is derived from responses to inkblots. It was found that the more definite an S's body image boundary the more likely he is to assign prominence to body exterior as compared to body interior sensations. This was demonstrated in terms of reports of current and past body sensations and also partially in terms of reactions to placebo. Selective recall for verbal material referring to exterior and interior sensations was also found to be related to degree of boundary definiteness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for binge eating onset in adolescent girls: A 2-year prospective investigation.

Because little is known about the predictors of binge eating (a risk factor for obesity), a set of putative risk factors for binge eating was investigated in a longitudinal study of adolescent girls. Results verified that binge eating predicted obesity onset. Elevated dieting, pressure to be thin, modeling of eating disturbances, appearance overvaluation, body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, emotional eating, body mass, and low self-esteem and social support predicted binge eating onset with 92% accuracy, Classification tree analysis revealed an interaction between appearance overvaluation, body mass, dieting, and depressive symptoms, suggesting qualitatively different pathways to binge eating and identifying subgroups at extreme risk for this outcome. Results support the assertion that these psychosocial and biological factors increase risk for binge eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting recurrence of major depressive disorder in young adults: A prospective study.

Sixty-five young adults with remitted major depressive disorder (MDD) were followed for 18 months. Recurrence of MDD was reported by 41.5% of the initial sample and 49.1% of those who completed the study (n/&=/&53). Survival analyses were used to identify predictors of recurrence so that individuals at greatest risk could be targeted for intervention. Potential predictors included measures of comorbid psychopathology (Axis II pathology, and current and lifetime nonmood Axis I diagnoses), depression-specific clinical features (number of episodes, past treatment, and suicidality), and self-reported cognitive and interpersonal constructs (hope, dysfunctional attitudes, and interpersonal problems). Only personality pathology (specifically, the total dimensional and Cluster B dimensional scores on the International Personality Disorder Examination; World Health Organization, 1996) significantly predicted hazard of recurrence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)