Life after childhood bullying: Body image development and disordered eating in adulthood

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that being bullied in childhood may have long-term associations with lower psychological well-being in adulthood. However, although bullying incidents frequently target the victim’s body and appearance, research has overlooked studying victims’ long-term body image development and risk of engaging in disordered eating later in life. This 14-year longitudinal research project examined childhood bullying in relation to body image development and disordered eating in emerging adulthood. Growth curve analyses of participants’ body image at ages 10–21 years ( N = 960) revealed that more victimized children experienced more body dissatisfaction at baseline and maintained their negative body image throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Mediation analyses showed that childhood bullying (age 10 years) predicted more negative body image in adolescence (age 18 years), which in turn predicted more disordered eating in adulthood (age 24 years). The indirect effect was stronger for girls than for boys. The findings suggest that bullied children are likely to face both more body image problems and disordered eating as they evolve through adolescence and into adulthood, indicating the need for early and effective interventions. Incorporating components known to promote a more positive body image could be a valuable feature of future interventions. Thus, as children and adolescents are taught to cope with bullying situations, they could also be helped to deal with the appearance culture that permeates many of these situations.

The Role of Pubertal Timing in the Development of Peer Victimization and Offending From Early- to Mid-Adolescence

“…Thus, the current findings should not be taken as reason to not intervene against negative peer relations among early maturers in early adolescence. Rather, professionals and policy makers need to be aware of the social risks associated with early puberty among both girls and boys and future research is needed to understand whether the negative peer experiences in early adolescence among early maturers translates into problematic outcomes in other domains, for instance, self-esteem or delinquency (Gattario, Lindwall, & Frisén, 2020; Wong & Schonlau, 2013).…”

Exploring adolescent girls’ experiences of body talk in non‐aesthetic sport

“…This has been attributed to a myriad of factors, including body changes during puberty, an appearance-focused peer environment (e.g., appearance-based teasing, comparisons, role modeling dieting behaviors), and the importance placed on peer acceptance (Harter, 2012;Voelker, Reel, & Greenleaf, 2015). For many girls, negative body image increases while positive body image decreases during adolescence (Bucchianeri, Arikian, Hannan, Eisenberg, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2013;Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, & Paxton, 2006), and these body image changes tend to persist into adulthood (Holmqvist Gattario, Lindwall, & Frisén, 2020;Wang et al, 2019). Critically, negative body image is associated with disordered eating, depressive symptoms, and low self-esteem in adolescence (Choi & Choi, 2016;Rodgers et al, 2020) and adulthood (Holmqvist Gattario et al, 2020;Sharpe et al, 2018).…”

“…For many girls, negative body image increases while positive body image decreases during adolescence (Bucchianeri, Arikian, Hannan, Eisenberg, & Neumark‐Sztainer, 2013; Eisenberg, Neumark‐Sztainer, & Paxton, 2006), and these body image changes tend to persist into adulthood (Holmqvist Gattario, Lindwall, & Frisén, 2020; Wang et al, 2019). Critically, negative body image is associated with disordered eating, depressive symptoms, and low self‐esteem in adolescence (Choi & Choi, 2016; Rodgers et al, 2020) and adulthood (Holmqvist Gattario et al, 2020; Sharpe et al, 2018). Therefore, targeting contexts that exacerbate pressures of this developmental period and negatively impact adolescent body image could mitigate the short‐ and long‐term health consequences.…”

Factors Associated With Disordered Eating Behavior Among Adolescent Girls: Screening and Education

“…Additionally, a study conducted in Sweden found that frequent childhood victimization correlated positively with disordered eating in adulthood, suggesting that being bullied is not only associated with disordered eating but can be a risk factor for it. 16 …”