The acceptance model of intuitive eating: A comparison of women in emerging adulthood, early adulthood, and middle adulthood.

The acceptance model of intuitive eating (Avalos & Tylka, 2006) posits that body acceptance by others helps women appreciate their body and resist adopting an observer's perspective of their body, which contribute to their eating intuitively/adaptively. We extended this model by integrating body mass index (BMI) into its structure and investigating it with emerging (ages 18–25 years old, n = 318), early (ages 26–39 years old, n = 238), and middle (ages 40–65 years old, n = 245) adult women. Multiple-group analysis revealed that this model fit the data for all age groups. Body appreciation and resistance to adopt an observer's perspective mediated the body acceptance by others–intuitive eating link. Body acceptance by others mediated the social support–body appreciation and BMI–body appreciation links. Early and middle adult women had stronger negative BMI–body acceptance by others and BMI–intuitive eating relationships and a stronger positive body acceptance by others–body appreciation relationship than emerging adult women. Early adult women had a stronger positive resistance to adopt observer's perspective–body appreciation relationship than emerging and middle adult women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test and extension of objectification theory as it predicts disordered eating: Does women's age matter?

When predicting disordered eating, models incorporating several of objectification theory's (B. L. Fredrickson & T. A. Roberts, 1997) core constructs (i.e., sexual objectification, self-objectification, body shame, poor interoceptive awareness) have been empirically supported with women of traditional undergraduate age who are consistent in age with the youthful-ideal prototype for women presented in the media. The present study extended this research by testing these core constructs with women ages 25–68 years (n = 330), as their experiences with these constructs may differ as they deviate from this youthful prototype. A multiple-groups analysis comparing these women with women ages 18–24 (n = 329) indicated that objectification theory can be extended to women ages 25 and older, as the model provided an adequate fit to the data. However, structural invariance analysis revealed that what takes place within the model may not be identical for these groups. The older group had a stronger relationship between body shame and disordered eating and a weaker relationship between poor interoceptive awareness and disordered eating than did the younger group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)