NCJ Number
212808
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 34 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2005 Pages: 629-636
Date Published
December 2005
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study tested a dual pathway model for body dissatisfaction in a sample of adolescent boys.
Abstract
The findings showed that one pathway to body dissatisfaction for adolescent boys involved weight; the heavier boys were more likely to be concerned about their weight and dieting and to express greater body dissatisfaction. The other pathway to body dissatisfaction featured issues of muscle mass, with links to body mass index (BMI), muscularity concerns, and body dissatisfaction. The inverse relationship between BMI and muscularity concern indicates that it is not the boys with elevated BMI who are concerned with muscularity, but rather the boys with lower BMIs who want to improve their muscular build; this study is among the first to confirm a link between BMI and adolescent boys' concern with their muscularity. Unexpectedly, a positive link was found between muscle-building conversations with peers and body dissatisfaction, suggesting that boys who conversed with friends about body-building activities had less body dissatisfaction. These findings were obtained from a sample of 128 boys from grades 8 (n=69) and 11 (n=59) who were recruited from 2 middle schools and 1 high school in a suburb of a major northwest city. The majority of the students were White and Asian. The questionnaire administered to the students measured appearance conversations with friends, muscle-building conversations, weight concerns, muscularity concern, body mass, and body dissatisfaction. The evidence supports the need to include both weight and muscularity pathways in research on the development of body image among adolescent boys. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 33 references