Predictors of changes in weight esteem among mainland Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal analysis.

Weight and body image concerns are prevalent among adolescents across cultures and pose significant threats to well-being, yet there is a paucity of longitudinal research on samples living in non-Western and developing countries. This prospective study assessed the extent to which select sociocultural, psychological, and biological risk factors contributed to changes in weight esteem among adolescent girls and boys living in the People’s Republic of China. Students (181 boys, 320 girls) from middle schools and high schools in Southwest China completed measures of demographics; weight esteem; thin female and lean, muscular male appearance ideals; positive and negative affect; and appearance-based social pressure, teasing, and comparison. Subsequently, weight esteem was reassessed 18 months later. Girls having stronger preferences for thin ideals, a high body mass index, and more negative affect at Time 1 were more likely to experience losses of weight esteem at follow-up. Among boys, high baseline levels of appearance pressure contributed to later reductions in weight esteem—an effect that was also moderated by age. For both sexes, appearance social comparisons also contributed to weight esteem changes in univariate analyses, albeit these effects were attenuated within multivariate prediction models. In sum, this study highlights how specific experiences implicated previously in research on body dissatisfaction in Western samples are also salient in understanding changes in weight esteem for adolescent girls and boys in rapidly developing China. (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 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)     

Magazine exposure: Internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students.

Investigated the relationships among magazine exposure, self-objectification, body shape dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology in 150 men and women (aged 18-42 yrs). Women reading beauty magazines and men reading fitness magazines internalized societal ideals (internalization). For women, beauty magazines predicted self-objectification, mediated by internalization. For men, only internalization predicted self-objectification. For men, fitness magazines predicted body shape dissatisfaction, mediated by internalization. For women, only internalization predicted body shape dissatisfaction. Reading magazines also predicted eating problems for men and women, for women this was mediated by internalization. Findings suggest that magazine reading is related to concerns with physical appearance and eating behaviors. Many of the relationships previously found for women are similar for men. A sociocultural model is used to explain these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscle among boys and girls.

This study examined factors that influence body image and strategies to either lose weight or increase muscle among children. Participants were 237 boys and 270 girls. Body mass index (BMI), body dissatisfaction, cognitions and behaviors to both lose weight and increase muscles, as well as self-esteem and positive and negative affect, were evaluated. Self-esteem was associated with body satisfaction, positive affect predicted strategies to lose weight and increase muscles, and negative affect predicted body dissatisfaction and cognitions to lose weight and increase muscles. Boys were more likely to focus on changing muscles. Respondents with higher BMIs were more focused on losing weight but not muscle. The discussion focuses on health risk behaviors related to eating and exercise among children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Les relations avec les pairs à l’adolescence comme facteurs de risque de l’insatisfaction à l’égard de l’image corporelle.

The objective of this study is to determine the extent to which certain risk factors in terms of peer relations (e.g., incentives to dieting and negative criticism concerning physical appearance, peer victimization, level of body image dissatisfaction compared to mutual friends of the same sex, and frequency of conversations between friends concerning physical appearance) account for observed changes in the level of body image dissatisfaction (BID) at the onset of adolescence. Information on BID of 594 students of first and second year of secondary school was collected over a period of 2 consecutive years. The results show that certain individual characteristics such as gender, body mass index and general self-esteem of students in the first period are respectively associated with an increase in BID over a 1-year period. After controlling for individual risk factors, the contribution of relational risk factors was found to be not significant. However, the different relational risk factors are closely associated with individual characteristics of students at the beginning of adolescence. The results pattern is similar for girls and boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison as a predictor of body dissatisfaction: A meta-analytic review.

The relationship between social comparison and body dissatisfaction was examined using meta-analysis. Several demographic and methodological variables were examined as potential moderators. Data from 156 studies (189 effect sizes) showed that social comparison was related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction. The effect for social comparison and body dissatisfaction was stronger for women than men and inversely related to age. This effect was stronger when social comparison was directly measured rather than inferred. No differences emerged for the presence of eating psychopathology, study design, or object of comparison. Results confirm theory and research suggesting that comparing oneself unfavorably to another on the basis of appearance may lead to dissatisfaction with one’s own appearance. Moderator variables refine our understanding of the social comparison–body dissatisfaction relationship. These constructs and their relationship should be explored further in future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociocultural and individual psychological predictors of body image in young girls: A prospective study.

This study investigated the prospective predictors of body image in 9- to 12-year-old girls. Participants were 150 girls in Grades 4-6 with a mean age of 10.3 years. Girls completed questionnaire measures of media and peer influences (television/magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations), individual psychological variables (appearance schemas, internalization of appearance ideals, autonomy), and body image (figure discrepancy and body esteem) at Time 1 and 1 year later at Time 2. Linear panel analyses showed that after controlling for Time 1 levels of body image, none of the Time 1 sociocultural variables predicted body image variables at Time 2. Body mass index (BMI; a biological variable) and psychological variables, however, did offer significant prospective prediction. Specifically, higher BMI, higher appearance schemas, higher internalization of appearance ideals, and lower autonomy predicted worsening body image 1 year later. Thus, higher weight and certain psychological characteristics were temporally antecedent to body image concerns. It was concluded that both biological and individual psychological variables play a role in the development of body image in children. Individual psychological variables, in particular, may provide useful targets in prevention and intervention programs addressing body image in 9- to 12-year-old girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for disordered eating during early and middle adolescence: Prospective evidence from mainland Chinese boys and girls.

Despite evidence that sociocultural and psychological factors contribute to disordered eating, researchers have yet to examine the extent to which putative risk factors influence vulnerability for girls versus boys within and across phases of adolescence, particularly in non-Western cultures. In this study, early and middle adolescent samples from China (N = 2,909) completed measures of eating disorder pathology and putative risk factors at baseline and were reassessed 12 months later. Among both younger and older girls, elevations in appearance-focused interactions with friends, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction predicted increases in symptomatology at follow-up. In contrast, there was more discontinuity in risk factors relevant to samples of boys. Although media and friendship influences contributed to later disturbances among early adolescent boys, psychological factors, including body dissatisfaction and negative affect, had stronger effects in the multivariate model for older boys. Implications of finding are discussed in relation to adolescent development and a Chinese cultural context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 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)     

Body-image and eating disturbances prospectively predict increases in depressive symptoms in adolescent girls: A growth curve analysis.

Using data from a longitudinal community study (N?=?231), the authors tested whether body-image and eating disturbances might partially explain the increase in depression observed in adolescent girls. Initial pressure to be thin, thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, and bulimic symptoms, but not body mass, predicted subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, as did increases in these risk factors over the study. There was also prospective support for each of the hypothesized mediational relations linking these risk factors to increases in depressive symptoms. Effects remained significant when other established gender-nonspecific risk factors for depression (social support and emotionality) were statistically controlled. Results provide support for the assertion that body-image and eating disturbances, operating above and beyond gender-nonspecific risk factors, contribute to the elevated depression in adolescent girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Males with eating disorders: challenges for treatment and research

Males represent only 10 percent of eating disorder cases. This gender discrepancy is among the most extreme in psychiatry and medicine. Determining what differences in etiology and mechanism best explain the discrepancy presents an intellectual challenge. Beginning at about the third grade, boys and girls diverge in social development. Boys show significantly less desire to lose weight, express dissatisfaction with the upper rather than the lower body, and use dieting to achieve specific external goals rather than as a cultural norm. Males reach a significantly higher body mass index (BMI) than females do before they beginning dieting. (27.2 versus 24.3, p < .01). While overall treatment principles are similar, males in treatment require attainment of a different hormonal milieu (testosterone), attention to past and future sexual role, amelioration of perception of stigma, and preparation for return to male social roles. Males and females suffer comparable degrees of osteopenia and brain shrinkage during anorexia nervosa. The effectiveness of antidepressants in males with eating disorders (compared with that in females) has not been well studied. Male gender is not an adverse factor in short-term or long-term treatment outcome. Understanding the lower frequency of these illnesses in males may lead to more effective means of protecting girls from eating disorders and from the culturally induced distress about normal body size and shape that burdens adolescent development and adult life.     

Relationship of body mass index and psychosocial factors on physical activity in underserved adolescent boys and girls.

Objective: Previous research indicates that body mass index (BMI) and sex are important factors in understanding physical activity (PA) levels. The present study examined the influence of BMI on psychosocial variables (self-efficacy, social support) and PA in underserved (ethnic minority, low income) boys in comparison with girls. Methods: Participants (N = 669; 56% girls; 74% African American) were recruited from the “Active by Choice Today” trial. Main Outcome Measures:BMI ? score was calculated from objectively collected height and weight data, and PA was assessed with 7-day accelerometry estimates. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure self-efficacy and social support (family, peers) for PA. Results: A 3-way interaction between BMI z score, sex, and family support on PA was shown such that family support was positively associated with PA in normal-weight but not overweight or obese boys, and was not associated with PA in girls. Self-efficacy had the largest effect size related to PA in comparison with the other psychosocial variables studied. Conclusions: Self-efficacy was found to be an important variable related to PA in underserved youth. Future studies should evaluate possible barriers to PA in girls, and overweight youth, to provide more effective family support strategies for underserved adolescents' PA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Height, weight and personality

In a representative sample of Basle 8th grade students (165 boys and 237 girls) born in 1960, 23 MMPI scales were compared to height and triceps skinfold thikness. No correlation was found among boys; in girls height showed a positive, skinfold thickness a negative correlation with the social rating of a number of scales.     

Correction to Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive (2006).

Reports an error in "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" by Helga Dittmar, Emma Halliwell and Suzanne Ive (Developmental Psychology, 2006 Mar, Vol 42[2], 283-292). 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 following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-03514-007.) 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)     

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)     

The relationship between R amplitude in lead V5 (RV5) and left ventricular mass in the groups of adolescent subjects classified by body composition

How the amplitude of the R wave in lead V5 (RV5) of the ECG represents the left ventricular (LV) mass was investigated in 894 students aged 15 (boys: 545, girls: 349). The influence of body composition [ie, percentage of body fat (%fat)] was taken into consideration. A significant correlation was found between RV5 amplitude and LV mass for both genders. However, the relationship was stronger for boys than for girls. The students were then divided into 3 groups; that is, those at either the top or bottom 10th percentile (low or high-fat range) and the rest of the students (middle-fat range), depending on the % fat calculated by the bioelectrical impedance method. The significant correlation between RV5 and LV mass was found only for the 2 groups of boys whose percentage fat was in the low or middle-fat range. The correlation coefficients were 0.40 and 0.34, respectively. Moreover, in the boys' low-fat range, the RV5 of students whose LV mass was large (> or =90th percentile), was significantly higher (p<0.01) than in the other ranges. Setting a particular cutoff point of RV5 in the low-fat range of boys improved sensitivity as well as specificity (20-30% better among all boys) for detecting large LV mass. These observations suggest that classification of subjects by body composition could be improve the reliability of ECG assessment for left ventricular hypertrophy, although the gender and number of subjects in whom improvement is expected are limited.     

The addition of sociotropy to the dual pathway model of bulimia.

The dual pathway model of bulimia proposes that internalized societal pressures lead to self-perceived body dissatisfaction. In turn, body dissatisfaction is thought to be associated with dietary restraint and negative affect that influences development of bulimia. In an expansion of the dual pathway model of bulimia, this investigation included the need for approval and fear of social rejection (referred to as sociotropy) in the model. Questionnaires measuring the dual pathway model and sociotropy were completed by 184 female undergraduates and a proposed theoretical model was tested using structural equation modeling. The findings provide support for several aspects of the dual pathway model of bulimia and the addition of sociotropy appears to strengthen the model's predictions of bulimic behaviour. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of social environment and social image on adolescent smoking.

This purpose of this article is to explore differences by gender and school grade in patterns of association among social influences and tobacco use. Data from the 1999 (N = 15,038) and 2000 (N 35,828) National Youth Tobacco Survey (American Legacy Foundation, 1999, 2000), a nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional survey, were used in the analysis. The authors compared effects on adolescent smoking. Direct paths from social environment to current smoking increased from middle school to high school. Indirect paths with social image mediating this relationship revealed a smaller increase. The pattern was constant across subsamples. Social image of smokers mediated the influence of social environment on adolescent smoking. Social image had a greater effect on smoking among middle school boys and high school girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expression of cellular adhesion regulatory molecule in hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: Studying gender differences in fat mass and distribution in a homogeneous group of children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: 610 children aged 5-7 y in Kiel, Germany. METHODS: Anthropometric measures, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). RESULTS: Although boys had increased body weights (P<0.05), body mass indexes (BMI's) (P<0.001) and waist/hip ratios (WHRs) (P<0.001), the %fat mass as assessed by BIA (P<0.05) was increased in girls. Although the increased BMI in boys was independent of the percentile used, gender differences (that is, lower values for boys than for girls at the same age) in WHR, the sum of four skinfolds and %fat were seen up to the 90th percentile. By contrast, above the 90th percentile there were no differences in skinfold thickness and %fat between boys and girls. Studying 42 BMI-matched pairs (boys and girls) also showed that the %fat estimated by BIA (P<0.001) was increased in girls. Plotting the average of %fat as obtained from skinfold- and BAI-measurements against the difference between data obtained by the use of the two methods shows that BIA %fat overestimates skinfold %fat at low or normal percent fat mass (that is, up to 20%) in both genders. By contrast, at increased fat mass, BIA %fat seems to underestimate skinfold %fat in both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences in fat mass and fat distribution are obvious in children aged 5-7 y. These differences are independent of gender differences in body weight. However, the nutritional state has an influence and gender differences cannot be detected in overweight and obese children. Our data also suggest that a children-specific formula used to calculate %fat from skinfold measurements is inappropriate.