The Skinny on Body Dissatisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Girls and Boys

Abstract

The present study tested whether theoretically derived risk factors predicted increases in body dissatisfaction and whether gender moderated these relations with data from a longitudinal study of 428 adolescent girls and boys because few prospective studies have examined these aims, despite evidence that body dissatisfaction increases risk for various psychiatric disturbances. Body dissatisfaction showed significant increases for girls and significant decreases for boys during early adolescence. For both genders parental support deficits, negative affectivity, and self-reported dietary restraint, but not Ideal body internalization, body mass index, and eating pathology, showed significant relations to future increases in body dissatisfaction; peer support deficits showed a marginal relation to this outcome. Gender did not moderate these relations, despite adequate power to detect interactive effects.

Symposium on ‘Nutrition and health in children and adolescents’ Session 3: Eating behaviour and early indicators of metabolic syndrome Motivation for eating behaviour in adolescent girls: the body beautiful

“…It is also apparent in a later study by this group. Here, perceived low social support by parents, and to a lesser extent by peers, was shown to predict body dissatisfaction (Bearman et al 2006); the effect being weak. Participants were younger adolescents (mean 13 .…”

Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women's body image concerns and mood

“…Social media use is particularly popular among young women (Kimbrough, Guadagno, Muscanell, & Dill, 2013;Muscanell & Guadagno, 2012), a demographic for which body dissatisfaction (i.e., dissatisfaction with one's current physical self) is also particularly problematic (Bearman, Martinez, Stice, & Presnell, 2006;Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001). Existing research has demonstrated a positive correlation between Facebook usage and body dissatisfaction (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015;Tiggemann & Miller, 2010;Tiggemann & Slater, 2013, 2014, but there is currently no theoretically-driven experimental research examining Facebook's impact on young women's body image concerns.…”

Eating pathology among adolescent girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

“…Internalizing problems, particularly negative affect, have been shown to be predictive of BN and body image dissatisfaction (Bearman et al, 2006;Leon, Fulkerson, Perry, Keel, & Klump, 1998). Disruptive problems such as impulsive substance use (Leon et al, 1998) and self-reported aggressive behavior (Killen et al, 1994) have been linked with BN.…”