Body appreciation in adult women: Relationships with age and body satisfaction

The major aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of age on positive body image (operationalized as body appreciation) across the female lifespan. A secondary aim was to examine the effect of age on the relationship between positive body image and body satisfaction. Participants were 158 women aged between 18 and 75 years who completed questionnaire measures of body appreciation and body dissatisfaction–satisfaction. A significant positive linear relationship was found between age and body appreciation; that is, older women had higher levels of body appreciation than their younger counterparts. Although body appreciation was positively correlated with body dissatisfaction–satisfaction across all age groups, the association was weaker for older women. The results contribute to a richer picture of women's body image across the lifespan, as well as confirming positive body image as something beyond the mere absence of body dissatisfaction.     

Self-objectification,body self-consciousness during sexual activities,and sexual satisfaction in college women

Few studies examine the mechanisms that link body image to sexual satisfaction in women. Using the tenets of objectification theory, this study investigated the relationships between body surveillance, body shame, body self-consciousness during sexual activities, and sexual satisfaction in an ethnically diverse sample of American female college students (N = 368), while controlling for relationship status and body mass index. Results based on self-report measures of these constructs suggested that body shame and body self-consciousness during sexual activity were negatively correlated with sexual satisfaction. Additionally, path analysis indicated that body surveillance predicted increased body self-consciousness during sexual activity, partially mediated by body shame. Body self-consciousness, in turn, predicted decreased sexual satisfaction. Overall, study findings highlight the negative consequences of body image concerns for women's sexual satisfaction.     

Connecting theory to fat talk: Body dissatisfaction mediates the relationships between weight discrepancy,upward comparison,body surveillance,and fat talk

The fat talk literature is meager in terms of offering theoretical explanations for women's self-disparaging communication. The research presented here sought to establish a relationship between three prominent body image theories – self-discrepancy theory, social comparison theory, and objectification theory – and fat talk by proposing body dissatisfaction as a potential mediating mechanism. Young adult women (N = 201) completed an online questionnaire. As predicted, results revealed that body dissatisfaction significantly mediated the relationships between weight discrepancy, upward comparison, body surveillance and fat talk. Effect size estimates indicated that the size of each indirect effect was medium in magnitude.     

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.     

Media exposure, internalization of the thin ideal, and body dissatisfaction: comparing Asian American and European American college females

Internalization of the thin ideal mediates the media exposure-body dissatisfaction relation in young adult European American females. There is little related research on Asian Americans. We used structural equations modeling to test: (1) whether media exposure was associated with body dissatisfaction in Asian American young adult females, (2) internalization of the thin ideal mediated any such association, and (3) whether the mediational model provided equivalent fit for European American and Asian American samples. Participants were 287 college females (154 Asian Americans, 133 European Americans). Internalization of the thin ideal explained the media exposure-body dissatisfaction association equally well for both groups. Results suggest that Asian Americans may be employing unhealthy weight control behaviors, and may be prone to developing eating disorders, at rates similar to European American young adult females. Clinicians need to screen carefully for body dissatisfaction, unhealthy weight control behaviors, and eating disorders in Asian American females.