NCJ Number
220780
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 36 Issue: 8 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 1024-1037
Date Published
November 2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined how self-esteem, perceptions of pressure and support from family and friends, weight-related teasing, and media pressure are linked with adolescents' perceptions of their bodies and their eating behaviors.
Abstract
The findings suggest that pressure from family and friends to be thin and gain muscle, low parental support, low body-esteem, and perceptions that one's own body is different from the ideal are all important predictors of high-risk, eating-related beliefs and behaviors. Adolescents who tend to be appearance-oriented and compare their bodies to peers and images in magazines are also more likely to report risky sexual behavior and substance use. Attention to the pressures that adolescents feel about achieving the ideal body image promoted by the media, family, and friends can help in identifying and targeting those factors likely to promote eating disorders, regardless of gender. Study participants were 177 students in grades 8 through 12 (ages 13-19) from 3 schools in the Northeast United States. Self-report questionnaires measured eating attitudes and behaviors (The Eating Attitudes Test); body image and body-esteem (Contour Drawing Rating Scale); self-esteem (adapted version of Harter's Global Self-worth Scale); parental and peer social support; and sociocultural pressures (the Perceived Sociocultural Pressure Scale). 4 tables and 70 references