The self‐perceived influence of parents, siblings, friends, and media on adolescent clothing choice was examined in a survey of 478 adolescents in the 6th, 9th, and 12th grades from two Midwestern school districts. Differences in self‐perception ofwho orwhat has the most influence on the clothes adolescents choose to wear were examined by chi‐square analysis andfound to be significant for grade, ethnicity, and residence. Friend influence increased with grade, whereas parental influence decreased. Blacks were influenced most by media, whereas Whites were influenced most byfriends. Rural adolescents were influenced more byfriends than were urban adolescents. Of those indicating media as most influential in their clothing choices, significant differences werefoundfor gender, grade, ethnicity, and residence. Findings reveal that media is the most important self‐perceived influence on Black adolescents, is less influential withfemales, gains influence as adolescents age, and has almost twice as much influence on urban adolescents as rural.
The purpose of this study was to investigate clothing use, satisfaction with clothing and satisfaction with the body among early, middle and late adolescents. Data were collected from 478 sixth, ninth and twelfth grade males and females in two school districts, one urban, one rural and separated by 45 miles. Dramatic physical, psychological and social changes are expected to take place during this transitional period of development; however, most research on adolescents and appearance has focused on them as if they were a homogeneous group. Significant differences were found between stages of adolescence on clothing use, satisfaction with clothing and satisfaction with appearance of the body. Older adolescents were less satisfied with their clothing and their bodies than were younger adolescents. Gender differences found between clothing and appearance variables seem to be largely reflective of society in terms of how males and females are socialized (e.g. physical effectiveness for males, physical attractiveness for females). Large differences found between rural and urban adolescents indicate the importance of identifying adolescents by place of residence when examining clothing and appearance and perhaps other lifestyle variables.
The study explored the accuracy of body measurements gathered from trained observers employing a tape measure compared with those generated by the 3D body scanner. Tape measurements of body circumferences are routinely used for assessing future risk to health, as increased circumference of the waist vs. hip is associated with greater chronic disease rates later in life. Findings indicated that significant differences existed between circumference measurements calculated by the body scanner and those which were gathered from a tape measure. This research indicates that utilization of the body scanner as an anthropometric measurement tool for the assessment of health risk has tremendous benefits.
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