Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Appearance Comparison among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Role of Identity Formation

Palmeroni, Nina; Claes, Laurence; Verschueren, Margaux; Raemen, Leni; Luyckx, Koen

doi:10.1080/15283488.2021.1930542

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…In the present study, adolescent boys reported higher body appreciation compared to girls, and these findings are in line with findings from previous studies [ 52 ]. Disordered eating, media pressures, and internalization of thin appearance ideals reflect previous findings and gender tendencies on stereotyped beauty ideals for women and men [ 26 , 53 ]. Finally, our study showed that adolescents spent approximately four hours daily browsing the internet in their leisure time.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…While media pressures are prevalent, the extent to which appearance ideals are internalized might be different between adolescents. Recent evidence suggests that high self-esteem and healthy identity formation protect adolescents against appearance ideals internalization [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Therefore, it is important to understand what other individual factors might protect adolescents from internalization of appearance ideals, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Media Pressures, Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Disordered Eating among Adolescent Girls and Boys: Testing the Moderating Role of Body Appreciation

Jankauskienė

Bacevičienė

2022

Nutrients

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The aim of the present study was to test the moderating role of body appreciation in the mediation model of media pressures, internalization of appearance ideals, and disordered eating in adolescents. One thousand four hundred and twelve Lithuanian adolescents (40.4% were boys, age range: 15–18 years) participated in the cross-sectional study. The mean age of the sample was 16.9 (SD (standard deviation) = 0.5) for girls and 17.0 (SD = 0.4) for boys. Adolescents completed a questionnaire consisting of measures of body appreciation (Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2)), disordered eating (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire 6 (EDE-Q 6)), attitudes towards sociocultural pressures towards appearance (Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire 4 (SATAQ-4)), and time browsing internet for leisure purposes. To assess the primary hypotheses, moderated mediation models were tested separately in boys and girls. In girls, body appreciation moderated associations between media pressures and internalization of thin body ideals and between internalization of thin appearance ideals and disordered eating. In boys, body appreciation moderated only the association between media pressures and disordered eating. The effect of media pressures on disordered eating was the highest in boys with the lowest body appreciation. Body appreciation protects adolescent girls from internalization of thin appearance ideals in the presence of media pressures and from disordered eating in the case of internalization of thin body appearance ideals. In boys, body appreciation provides a protective effect from media pressures towards appearance to disordered eating behaviors. The findings of the present study could inform intervention programs that aim to prevent disordered eating, strengthen positive body image, and promote healthy eating in adolescent girls and boys. Specific programs might be beneficial in preventing disordered eating in boys with low body appreciation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media Pressures, Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Disordered Eating among Adolescent Girls and Boys: Testing the Moderating Role of Body Appreciation

Jankauskienė

Bacevičienė

2022

Nutrients

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“…Finally, as associations between identity formation and positive body image have been found, it might be helpful to strengthen a positive body image in adolescents. It is known that reducing negative body image and enhancing positive body image might prevent or reduce eating disorder symptoms, and that body image and pressures regarding appearance ideals might impact identity formation as well (Palmeroni et al, 2021 ; Palmeroni et al, 2020 ). Hence, strengthening positive body image besides reducing negative body image and appearance-related pressures might positively impact eating disorder symptomatology and identity development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relatedly, patients with an eating disorder reported more identity problems compared to community controls (Verschueren et al, 2017 ). Furthermore, researchers have found an increasing amount of evidence for bidirectional effects between identity formation and eating disorder symptomatology (Palmeroni et al, 2021 ; Verschueren et al, 2019 ). In sum, identity formation and eating disorder symptomatology seem to reciprocally influence each other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity Formation, Body Image, and Body-Related Symptoms: Developmental Trajectories and Associations Throughout Adolescence

Vankerckhoven

Raemen

Claes

et al. 2022

J Youth Adolescence

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Emerging evidence highlights the intricate link between identity and one’s body, however, integrative longitudinal research on this identity-body interplay is lacking. The current study used three-wave longitudinal data (Time 1: N = 403; 52.1% female; M age = 14.85, SD = 0.89, range = 13–19 years) spanning two years (2019–2021; T1 and T2 being pre-pandemic, T3 peri-pandemic) to identify identity trajectory classes and examine their co-development with negative and positive body image and various body-related variables (i.e., sociocultural pressures, internalization of appearance ideals, self-objectification, appearance comparison, and eating disorder symptoms). First, four identity classes emerged using latent class growth analysis (achievement, moratorium, carefree diffusion, and troubled diffusion). Second, using multigroup latent growth curve modeling, adolescents in less adaptive identity trajectory classes (i.e., engaging less in pro-active processes and more in ruminative processes) displayed higher levels of negative body image and body-related symptoms. The current study testified to the clinically meaningful associations linking identity formation to adolescents’ body image and other body-related symptoms.

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“…Another important consideration is the potential for gender differences in the constructs and pathways outlined in the Identity Disruption Model. It is fairly well-established that boys tend to show lower levels of body dissatisfaction than do girls (Prnjak et al, 2021 ), and there is also evidence of gender differences in internalization of cultural ideals and appearance-based comparisons (e.g., Palmeroni et al, 2021 ). However, there is some evidence (at least among adults) that the associations among variables in the Identity Disruption Model do not differ for men and for women (Vartanian et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Identity Disruption Model among Adolescents: Pathways Connecting Adverse Childhood Experiences to Body Dissatisfaction

Vartanian

Nicholls²,

Fardouly³

2022

J Youth Adolescence

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The Identity Disruption Model posits that early adversity is associated with lower self-concept clarity, which in turn increases vulnerability to sociocultural appearance factors and body dissatisfaction, but this model has not previously been tested among adolescents. Testing the model during adolescence is critical because this is a key point of development of both identity and body dissatisfaction. This paper presents two studies with adolescents recruited through social media (Study 1: n = 213; 78% female; mean age = 15.7 years, SD = 1.14) and from high schools (Study 2; n = 228; 43% female; mean age = 13.8 years, SD = 1.15). In both studies, self-reported early adversity was associated with lower self-concept clarity; lower self-concept clarity was associated with greater internalization of appearance ideals and more frequent appearance comparisons; and internalization and appearance comparisons were associated with greater body dissatisfaction. This research builds on previous sociocultural models of body dissatisfaction by pointing to processes that occur early in life that could be potential targets of intervention and prevention efforts.

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Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Appearance Comparison among Adolescent Boys and Girls: The Role of Identity Formation

Cited by 13 publications

References 52 publications

Media Pressures, Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Disordered Eating among Adolescent Girls and Boys: Testing the Moderating Role of Body Appreciation

Media Pressures, Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Disordered Eating among Adolescent Girls and Boys: Testing the Moderating Role of Body Appreciation

Identity Formation, Body Image, and Body-Related Symptoms: Developmental Trajectories and Associations Throughout Adolescence

Testing the Identity Disruption Model among Adolescents: Pathways Connecting Adverse Childhood Experiences to Body Dissatisfaction

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