Media influences on body satisfaction in female students

The present study examined the immediate impact of media portrayals on evaluations of body shape and disordered eating symptomatology in female undergraduates. By using a repeated measures design, participants (N= 42) were exposed on two consecutive occasions to magazine images representing the thin-ideal physique and overweight models. Body satisfaction was recorded both before and after exposure to the images and eating disorder symptomatology was measured following both exposures. Results showed that participants' body satisfaction scores decreased following exposure to the thin-ideal physique and increased following exposure to the larger models. When analysing eating disorder symptomatology, body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness were higher following exposure to slender media images compared to the larger media images. However, exposure to the thin-ideal physique did not increase disordered eating behaviours. These results provide evidence that one brief exposure to media images could exert immediate impact on some behaviours, attitudes and perceptions.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorder Symptomatology with Bisexual Individuals

Body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology were examined in bisexual individuals (n?=?139 women, n?=?37 men) and compared to lesbian/gay (n?=?51 women, n?=?96 men) and heterosexual individuals (n?=?82 women, n?=?34 men) in a U.S. online sample. Age, body mass index (BMI), income, and exercise frequency served as covariates. MANCOVA results showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction and significant main effects of gender and sexuality. Univariate tests were used to explore multivariate results. ANCOVA results for body dissatisfaction showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of body dissatisfaction among all groups compared to heterosexual men. ANCOVA results for eating disorder symptomatology showed a significant main effect of sexual orientation. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of eating disorder symptoms among bisexual compared to heterosexual individuals. For bisexual men, gay community involvement, maladaptive social comparison, drive for muscularity, self-esteem, gender role orientation, and body dissatisfaction were explored as predictors of eating disorder symptomatology while controlling for age, BMI, exercise frequency, and income in a hierarchical regression analysis. The same factors, minus body dissatisfaction, were explored as predictors of body dissatisfaction in bisexual men. For bisexual women, similar factors, with the exception of drive for muscularity, were explored. Drive for muscularity predicted body dissatisfaction and exercise frequency predicted eating disorder symptomatology in bisexual men. BMI and self-esteem predicted body dissatisfaction in bisexual women; gay community involvement and body dissatisfaction predicted eating disorder symptomatology.     

Understanding Women's Experiences of Defending Against Eating Disorder Symptoms: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Body dissatisfaction predicts eating disorder symptomatology for some women but not for others. To better understand this disparity, the authors interviewed 7 college women who reported body dissatisfaction and no engagement in eating disorder symptoms. The authors identified 4 factors that may protect body‐dissatisfied women from engaging in eating disorder symptoms.     

The effect of exercise absence on affect and body dissatisfaction as moderated by obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered beliefs and behaviors

AIM: Research suggests that exercise absence is frequently associated with greater guilt and negative affect, particularly when obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered psychopathology are considered. Two separate studies used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine differences in mood on exercise and non-exercise days and the moderating impact of obligatory exercise beliefs and eating disordered beliefs and behaviors. METHOD: Both studies recruited female university students who endorsed frequent exercise behavior and study two also recruited based on level of eating disordered psychopathology. Participants completed the Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire at baseline and EMA measures of affect and exercise behavior for approximately one week. Study two participants also completed measures of body dissatisfaction and cognitions. RESULTS: Results of study one suggest that obligation to exercise appears to have a greater impact on general level of affect than does exercise absence or the interaction of these two. In addition, in study two, eating disorder symptomatology was significantly associated with affect and cognition while exercise absence and obligatory exercise beliefs were not. CONCLUSIONS: The present studies suggest that the absence of exercise is not associated with significant changes in affect or cognitions. However, obligation to exercise and eating disorder symptomatology do impact affect and cognitions.     

Changes in Television and Magazine Exposure and Eating Disorder Symptomatology

The relationship between girls' media exposure and their development of eating disorder symptomatology was assessed. At Time 1 and Time 2 (16 months later), participants (N = 374; M age = 12.0) completed a questionnaire that assessed eating disorder sympto-matology and television and fashion magazine exposure. Girls were divided into 3 groups: increased, decreased, or no change in eating disorder symptomatology between Times 1 and 2. Girls with increased symptomatology had significantly increased their exposure to fashion magazines but decreased their number of hours of television viewing. Girls with decreased symptomatology had significantly decreased their exposure to both television and fashion magazines.     

HARASSED BODIES

The present study examined the relationships among sexual harassment and body image and eating disturbances using a sample of 195 undergraduate women. Sexual harassment was associated with a variety of eating disorder symptoms, even when controlling for experiences of sexual abuse/assault and physical abuse. Whereas sexual abuse/assault and physical abuse appear to be nonspecific risk factors for such symptoms, sexual harassment was more closely associated with eating disorder symptomatology than other types of psychological distress. The results of structural equation modeling better supported a model in which body image and eating disturbances were outcomes rather than antecedents of sexual harassment. Finally, several analyses indicated that disordered eating may function as a way to cope with the negative emotions associated with sexual harassment.     

Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorder Symptomatology: A Latent Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of Moderating Variables in 18-to-28-Year-Old Males

ABSTRACT. Although body dissatisfaction is recognized as the strongest risk factor for eating disturbances, a majority of young males are body dissatisfied, but do not concomitantly report severe levels of eating disorder symptomatology. The present investigation was designed to examine five theoretically relevant variables (i.e., body checking, emotional dysregulation, perfectionism, insecure-anxious attachment, and self-esteem) as potential moderators of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and two critical components of male eating disorder symptomatology: drive for muscularity and bulimic behaviors. Data collected from 551 Italian males between 18 and 28 years old were analyzed using latent structural equation modeling. The authors found that emotional dysregulation, body checking, insecure-anxious attachment and perfectionism intensified the relationship between body dissatisfaction and each criterion variable representing male eating disorder symptomatology; the interactions accounted respectively for an additional 2%, 7%, 4% and 5% of variance in drive for muscularity and for an additional 6%, 4%, 5%, and 2% of the variance in bulimic behaviors. By contrast self-esteem weakened this relationship and the interactions accounted for an additional 3% of the variance in both drive for muscularity and bulimic behaviors. Implications of these findings for prevention and treatment of male eating disturbances are discussed.     

ACCULTURATION, BODY IMAGE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND EATING-DISORDER SYMPTOMATOLOGY IN ADOLESCENT MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

In this article the relationship among acculturation, body image, self-esteem, and eating disorder symptomatology in 120 Mexican American adolescent women was investigated. Surprisingly, acculturation levels were not related to anorexic or bulimic symptomatology, self-esteem, body dissatisfaction or thinness of ideal and attractive figures. Lower levels of self-esteem predicted higher levels of anorexic and bulimic symptomatology. Body mass was positively related to bulimic scores. In contrast to Lester and Petrie (1995), body dissatisfaction was significantly related to eating-disorder symptomatology. The high levels of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors found in this study suggest that rather than exclusively being an Anglo, middle-to upper-class phenomenon, eating-disordered behavior also exists within lower socioeconomic status Mexican American adolescent women.     

Characteristics of Dieting and Nondieting Adolescents in a Psychiatric Inpatient Setting

  The clinical and psychosocial characteristics of 239 dieting and nondieting adolescents (61% female; mean age=15.3) recruited from an inpatient psychiatric setting were examined. Dieting adolescents were compared to nondieting adolescents on exercise frequency, weight control behaviors, risky behaviors, psychiatric comorbidity and distress, eating disorder symptomatology, smoking, coping, and family factors. While dieters did not statistically differ from nondieters on scores of body mass index, dieting youth reported greater levels of self-reported distress, poorer coping, greater eating disorder symptomatology, and were more likely to engage in extreme weight control behaviors. In addition, dieting was associated with higher rates of major depression (58% vs 34%) and eating disorders (14% vs 1%). Among adolescent smokers, dieters endorsed smoking as a weight control behavior. Engaging in risky behaviors or familial factors did not differentiate dieters from nondieters. Given the number of negative correlates associated with dieting in adolescents, identifying dieting and weight control behaviors in clinical settings may prove to be an effective strategy in the development of prevention and intervention efforts for youth.     

Eating Disorders Among Urban and Rural African American and European American Women

Abstract

It is alleged that eating disorders are nonexistent in African American women and that eating disorder symptomatology occurs predominantly among White middle class women (Kumanyika, Wilson, & Guilford-Davenport, 1993; Smolak & Striegel-Moore, 2001). This research attempted to identify differences in eating disorder symptomatology in African American and White American women. An eating disorder is a disability because it can damage the person physically, emotionally and socially. It can be undetected for years and society may reinforce the hidden disorder by being complimentary regarding the thin appearance of the person. The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) was used to measure psychological traits and symptom clusters associated with the understanding and treatment of eating disorders (Garner, 1990). Measures of self-esteem, depression and coping were also examined. Findings indicated differences between African American and White women on the Ineffectiveness scale of the EDI, differences between the urban/rural women on Ineffectiveness and Perfectionism, and differences in coping strategies and education among this sample group of women. Successful treatment usually involves psychotherapy and/or medication for depression.     

Psychosocial moderators of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and symptoms of eating disorders: A look at a sample of young Italian women

IntroductionVarious psychosocial variables may affect the strength of the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and women's eating disorder symptomatology.ObjectiveInformed by Tylka (2004) and Brannan and Petrie (2011) research, the current study examined body surveillance and self-esteem as well as three additional theoretically relevant variables (social interaction anxiety, internalization of media ideals and attachment anxiety) as potential moderators of this relationship.MethodA cross-sectional design was used. A sample of 538 young Italian women completed self-report questionnaires.ResultsHierarchical moderated regression indicated that self-esteem buffered the deleterious effects of body dissatisfaction, whereas social interaction anxiety, body surveillance, internalization of media ideals and attachment anxiety intensified the primary body dissatisfaction-eating disorder symptomatology relationship.ConclusionSeveral risk and protective factors were found to interact with body dissatisfaction to influence its relation to women's eating disorder symptomatology. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

A Comparison of Eating Disorder Symptomatology, Role Concerns, Figure Preference and Social Comparison Between Women Who Have Attended Single Sex and Coeducational Schools

This study sought to examine the effect of high school gender composition on eating disorder symptomatology and attitudes of female Australian university students. We compared female students who had previously attended single sex (n?=?52) or coeducational (n?=?43) high schools on measures of eating disorder symptomatology, role concerns, figure preference and social comparison so as to examine the effect of high school gender composition on these measures. Importantly, the groups compared here were not significantly different in age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, or whether they had previously sought advice about their weight. Contrary to predictions based on previous research, there were no significant differences between the groups on eating disorder symptomatology, role concern, or social comparison measures. However, students who had previously attended single sex schools endorsed significantly thinner figure preferences overall, suggesting that school environment was an important cultural factor in the development of aspiration towards a thin idea. Additionally, both groups perceived their current figure to be larger than the figure they perceived as most attractive. Our findings provide mixed support for the notion that high school gender composition impacted on the eating-related behaviour and attitudes of university students. Methodological differences that may account for the discrepancies between the findings of the current study and those of earlier work are discussed. Further research including longitudinal studies that employ larger sample sizes is required to clarify these findings.     

Risk factors for disordered eating during early and middle adolescence: prospective evidence from mainland Chinese boys and girls

Despite evidence that sociocultural and psychological factors contribute to disordered eating, researchers have yet to examine the extent to which putative risk factors influence vulnerability for girls versus boys within and across phases of adolescence, particularly in non-Western cultures. In this study, early and middle adolescent samples from China (N = 2,909) completed measures of eating disorder pathology and putative risk factors at baseline and were reassessed 12 months later. Among both younger and older girls, elevations in appearance-focused interactions with friends, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction predicted increases in symptomatology at follow-up. In contrast, there was more discontinuity in risk factors relevant to samples of boys. Although media and friendship influences contributed to later disturbances among early adolescent boys, psychological factors, including body dissatisfaction and negative affect, had stronger effects in the multivariate model for older boys. Implications of finding are discussed in relation to adolescent development and a Chinese cultural context.     

Weighing the Evidence: Social Desirability, Eating Disorder Symptomatology, and Accuracy of Self-reported Body Weight Among Men and Women

Although self-reported measurement of body weight is commonly accepted practice, this method may yield inaccurate estimates varying by respondent gender, body mass index, and eating disorder symptomatology. Given the gendered nature of idealized body weight in the U.S., we examined whether or not these variables and positive impression management are associated with inaccurate weight reporting among undergraduates. College women (n?=?107) and men (n?=?48) from a small liberal arts school in the Northeastern U.S. self-reported height and weight, completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, Personality Assessment Inventory-Positive Impression Management scale, and three scales from the Eating Disorder Inventory-3, and were then weighed. Paired t-tests compared self-reported and measured body weight for men and women separately, and respondents were then categorized as under- or over-reporters by gender. Independent samples t-tests were conducted separately for men and women comparing weight under- and over-reporters on BMI, levels of eating disorder symptomatology, and social desirability. Results indicate discrepancies between self-reported and measured body weight were significant. Among those who over-reported weight, men exhibited greater over-reporting than did women. Weight under-reporting was associated with higher BMI, and for women, lower eating disorder symptomatology and higher social desirability scores. There may be inaccuracies in self-reported weight based on positive impression management, BMI, and eating disorder symptomatology, but these appear to differ by gender. Future research should explore the roles of personality, social desirability, and competing pressures for muscularity versus thinness in weight reporting accuracy among men and women.     

The Sporting Body: Body Image and Eating Disorder Symptomatology Among Female Athletes from Leanness Focused and Nonleanness Focused Sports

Female athletes experience pressure to conform to social and sporting norms concerning body weight. This study compared general and sporting body dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptomatology among 320 elite, recreational, and noncompetitive female athletes aged 17 to 30 years competing in leanness focused sports and nonleanness focused sports. Participants completed an online questionnaire including demographic questions, the Eating Attitudes Test, and the Figure Rating Scale. Athletes from leanness focused sports reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction and greater disordered eating symptomatology regardless of participation level. Elite athletes reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction and greater disordered eating symptomatology regardless of sport type, and differences between recreational and noncompetitive athletes were not found. More than 60% of elite athletes from leanness focused and nonleanness focused sports reported pressure from coaches concerning body shape. The findings have important implications for identifying risk factors for eating disorders among female athletes, where athletes who compete at elite level and those who compete in leanness focused sports at any level may be at higher risk for developing eating disorders.     

Eating concerns on two Christian and two nonsectarian college campuses: a measure of sex and campus differences in attitudes toward eating

Eating concerns among college men and women on two campuses with an explicitly Christian world view and two nonsectarian campuses, each campus in a different section of the country, were examined in three experiments using the Wellesley Eating Attitudes Survey. Chi-square tests indicated that eating concerns were significantly more frequent among women than men, but men showed a surprisingly high degree of concern. Campuses differed in their level of concern. The relative incidence of overweight in the four sections of the country (Northeast, West, Midwest, and South), as measured by the Centers for Disease Control (1989), appeared more closely related to the level of concern at each of the campuses than the presence or absence of an evangelical Christian world view. Recommendations are made for appropriate support services for students with eating concerns at each campus.     

Many Selves in One Body: Discussion of “The Entropic Body”

The discussion of Wooldridge’s paper (this issue) offers two theoretical ideas to conceptualize the psychodynamics and treatment of individuals with severe eating disorders. Multiple self-states posited by Philip Bromberg and others allows for an understanding of the often contradictory nature of eating disorder symptomatology. Pathological organizations and primitive anxieties, elaborated by Paul Williams, suggests that the deep psychotic layer of the personality must be reckoned with in order to help the patient. Wooldridge’s patient Sara is discussed from these two perspectives, and technical considerations are offered.     

Guided and unguided self-help for binge eating

This study compared the relative short- and longer-term efficacy of therapist-guided and unguided use of a cognitive behavioral self-help manual for binge eating [Fairburn, C. G. (1995). Overcome binge eating. New York: The Guilford Press.] Forty women (82.5% with binge eating disorder) were randomized to one of the two treatment levels. Results indicate that both conditions represent viable means of treating binge eating. Overall, patients improved their eating behavior, eliminated any inappropriate compensatory behaviors, reduced their shape concern, weight concern, and other symptoms of eating-related psychopathology, and improved their general psychological functioning. The guided self-help condition was notably superior in reducing the occurrence of binge eating and its associated symptomatology, as well as lowering interpersonal sensitivity. A high degree of general psychopathology was a negative prognostic indicator. The implications for a stepped-care approach to treating binge eating are discussed.     

A TEST OF OBJECTIFICATION THEORY WITH LESBIAN WOMEN

This study extends research on objectification theory as it applies to eating disorder symptomatology by examining whether its tenets generalize to women identifying as lesbian. Lesbian women ( N = 181) and a comparison sample of heterosexual women ( N = 196) completed measures of objectification theory constructs (interpersonal sexual objectification, body surveillance, body shame, interoceptive awareness, disordered eating). The model of objectification theory was tested separately for lesbian and heterosexual participants. Path analyses revealed that this model provided a poor fit to the data for the lesbian sample, whereas it provided an excellent fit to the data for the heterosexual sample. Based on the data from the lesbian participants, an exploratory model was evaluated. Overall, findings suggested that the interrelationships among the objectification theory constructs were different and more complex for the lesbian participants than for the heterosexual participants.     

ANXIETY, ALEXITHYMIA, AND DEPRESSION AS MEDIATORS OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CHILDHOOD ABUSE AND EATING DISORDERED BEHAVIOR IN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN WOMEN

This study evaluated structural equation models of the associations among family functioning, childhood abuse, depression, anxiety, alexithymia, and eating disorder symptomatology in a sample of 412 European American and 192 African American female undergraduates. Additionally, the specific roles of anxiety, depression, and alexithymia as mediators were assessed. Each of these variables was a significant mediator of the association between childhood abuse and disordered eating. Finally, a test of invariance between the African American and European American subsamples was significant, highlighting the need for additional cross-cultural eating disorder research.