School milieu characteristics and disordered eating in high school graduates

Abstract

Research has confirmed a relationship between our culture's emphasis on thinness, and disordered eating. The present study sought to expand our understanding of the relationship between sociocultural variables and disordered eating. It hypothesized that students from high schools that encourage competitiveness, value traditional feminine behaviors and conformity to traditional norms, and discourage social support and interpersonal involvements among students are particularly likely to report symptoms of disordered eating and related psychopathology. Social climate measures, an abbreviated Eating Disorders Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale were completed by 211 female high school graduates recruited among the incoming students of two U.S. campuses. The hypothesis of elevated scores on measures of disordered eating among females from schools perceived as emphasizing competitiveness and traditional feminine and dependent behaviors was not confirmed. Results, however, suggested a modest relationship between perception of the high school as low in social involvement and feelings of ineffectiveness and loneliness.

Disordered eating behavior and adolescent social health: evidence of interpersonal disruption across time and relationships

“…Nonetheless, evidence links school climate and perceived belonging to eating disorder symptom expression. 72 , 73 Extending ecological and family-systems perspectives, Winter et al 74 conceptualize schools as relational ecologies in which educators occupy pivotal roles within the home-school mesosystem. Within these ecologies, the quality of interactions among teachers, parents, and peers can stabilize or destabilize daily functioning.…”

Disordered eating behavior and adolescent social health: evidence of interpersonal disruption across time and relationships

“…Nonetheless, evidence links school climate and perceived belonging to eating disorder symptom expression. 72 , 73 Extending ecological and family-systems perspectives, Winter et al 74 conceptualize schools as relational ecologies in which educators occupy pivotal roles within the home-school mesosystem. Within these ecologies, the quality of interactions among teachers, parents, and peers can stabilize or destabilize daily functioning.…”

Perceived Gender Role Prescriptions in Schools, the Superwoman Ideal, and Disordered Eating Among Adolescent Girls

“…We suspected that young women who perceived these kinds of messages and social pressures (i.e., conflicting gender role prescriptions) would be more vulnerable to developing disordered eating. Striegel-Moore et al (1991) tested whether a school's social milieu, that is a subculture in which patterns and norms were evident, contributed to disordered eating behaviors in young women. Their research demonstrated less disordered eating among girls who perceived their school as encouraging social support and interpersonal involvement among students.…”

Effect of gender composition of school on body concerns in adolescent women

“…In their (retrospective) study of schools, Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, and Rodin (1986) initially reported higher prevalence rates of bulimia in schools that place a greater emphasis on dating. In their follow-up, however, Striegel-Moore, Connor-Greene, and Shime (1991) found no relationship between disordered eating and whether schools were perceived as emphasizing competitiveness or traditional feminine dependent behaviors. More recently, Ogden and Thomas (1999) found that girls attending a school with higher socioeconomic status (SES) reported more weight concern than those at a school with a lower SES, a difference partially mediated by values.…”

Disordered eating behavior and adolescent social health: evidence of interpersonal disruption across time and relationships

“…Nonetheless, evidence links school climate and perceived belonging to eating disorder symptom expression. 72 , 73 Extending ecological and family-systems perspectives, Winter et al 74 conceptualize schools as relational ecologies in which educators occupy pivotal roles within the home-school mesosystem. Within these ecologies, the quality of interactions among teachers, parents, and peers can stabilize or destabilize daily functioning.…”

Perceived Gender Role Prescriptions in Schools, the Superwoman Ideal, and Disordered Eating Among Adolescent Girls

“…We suspected that young women who perceived these kinds of messages and social pressures (i.e., conflicting gender role prescriptions) would be more vulnerable to developing disordered eating. Striegel-Moore et al (1991) tested whether a school's social milieu, that is a subculture in which patterns and norms were evident, contributed to disordered eating behaviors in young women. Their research demonstrated less disordered eating among girls who perceived their school as encouraging social support and interpersonal involvement among students.…”

Effect of gender composition of school on body concerns in adolescent women

“…In their (retrospective) study of schools, Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, and Rodin (1986) initially reported higher prevalence rates of bulimia in schools that place a greater emphasis on dating. In their follow-up, however, Striegel-Moore, Connor-Greene, and Shime (1991) found no relationship between disordered eating and whether schools were perceived as emphasizing competitiveness or traditional feminine dependent behaviors. More recently, Ogden and Thomas (1999) found that girls attending a school with higher socioeconomic status (SES) reported more weight concern than those at a school with a lower SES, a difference partially mediated by values.…”

Disordered eating behavior and adolescent social health: evidence of interpersonal disruption across time and relationships

“…Nonetheless, evidence links school climate and perceived belonging to eating disorder symptom expression. 72 , 73 Extending ecological and family-systems perspectives, Winter et al 74 conceptualize schools as relational ecologies in which educators occupy pivotal roles within the home-school mesosystem. Within these ecologies, the quality of interactions among teachers, parents, and peers can stabilize or destabilize daily functioning.…”

Perceived Gender Role Prescriptions in Schools, the Superwoman Ideal, and Disordered Eating Among Adolescent Girls

“…We suspected that young women who perceived these kinds of messages and social pressures (i.e., conflicting gender role prescriptions) would be more vulnerable to developing disordered eating. Striegel-Moore et al (1991) tested whether a school's social milieu, that is a subculture in which patterns and norms were evident, contributed to disordered eating behaviors in young women. Their research demonstrated less disordered eating among girls who perceived their school as encouraging social support and interpersonal involvement among students.…”

Effect of gender composition of school on body concerns in adolescent women

“…In their (retrospective) study of schools, Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, and Rodin (1986) initially reported higher prevalence rates of bulimia in schools that place a greater emphasis on dating. In their follow-up, however, Striegel-Moore, Connor-Greene, and Shime (1991) found no relationship between disordered eating and whether schools were perceived as emphasizing competitiveness or traditional feminine dependent behaviors. More recently, Ogden and Thomas (1999) found that girls attending a school with higher socioeconomic status (SES) reported more weight concern than those at a school with a lower SES, a difference partially mediated by values.…”