Body Dissatisfaction of Young Adolescents:

1
Body Dissatisfaction of Young Adolescents Risk,
Resource, and Protective Factors Erin T. Barker
Nancy L. Galambos Department of Psychology,
University of Alberta

• INTRODUCTION
• Background
• Associations between body dissatisfaction and
  symptoms of eating disorders (e.g., restricting
  diet, binge eating, and purging) have been found
  in numerous correlational studies (e.g., Leon et
  al., 1993 Leung et al., 1996 McVey et al.,
  2002 Thompson et al., 1999)
• Moreover, results from longitudinal studies
  indicate that girls body dissatisfaction in
  early adolescence is predictive of later
  disordered eating (Attie Brooks-Gunn, 1989
  Graber et al., 1994)
• Gender differences in body dissatisfaction in
  early adolescence have also been found, with
  girls reporting greater body dissatisfaction than
  boys (Keel et al., 1997 Richards et al., 1990
  Rosenblum Lewis, 1999)
• Given the link between body dissatisfaction and
  disordered eating and gender differences in body
  dissatisfaction, risks and resources from several
  levels of the ecological system of development
  were explored in a community sample of early
  adolescent girls and boys to afford a better
  understanding of the development of body
  dissatisfaction in early adolescence.
• Research Questions
• For girls and boys in early adolescence
• What factors are risks for increased body
  dissatisfaction?
• What factors are resources that promote body
  satisfaction?
• Do resources act as protective factors against
  body dissatisfaction, moderating the relations
  between significant risks and body
  dissatisfaction?
• Hypothesized risk factors included physical risks
  (pubertal status, body mass index, and figure
  management behaviour) and contextual risks (being
  teased about appearance and involvement in
  popular culture).
• Hypothesized resource factors included mother and
  father acceptance, attendance at religious
  activities, and participation in sports.

MEASURES Body dissatisfaction Self Image
Questionnaire for Young Adolescents (SIQYA) Body
Image Subscale. E.g., I am not satisfied with my
weight. Pubertal status Pubertal Development
Scale (PDS). Assesses body hair and skin changes
for boys and girls, breast development and
menarche for girls, and voice changes and facial
hair growth for boys. Weight status Body Mass
Index (BMI weight in kg divided by height in
m2). Figure management 3-item scale developed
for this study assessed how hard adolescents try
to be thin, to be muscular, and to be
physically fit. Teasing about appearance 4-item
scale developed for this study asked, How often
are you teased about 1) your weight, 2) your
shape, 3) how strong/weak you are, 4) your
clothes? Involvement in popular culture
11-item scale developed for this study.
Adolescents rated how often in the past month
they had participated in activities such as
having read a teen magazine and bought a
CD. Parental acceptance Childs Report of
Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) Acceptance
Subscale. Rated mothers and fathers separately.
E.g., She he comforts me when Im
sad. Attendance at religious activities
Adolescents rated how often in the past month
they had gone to church, temple or other
religious activities. Sports activity
involvement Two items asked, How often in the
last month have you ... participated in a team
sport outside of school and had an athletic
lesson outside of school.

• Results for Girls
• Physical Risks Greater BMI and more figure
  management behaviour predicted greater body
  dissatisfaction.
• Contextual Risks Being teased more about
  appearance predicted greater body
  dissatisfaction.
• Resource Factors Greater mother acceptance (and
  father acceptance tested in a separate
  regression) predicted less body dissatisfaction.
  Unexpectedly, more religious activity attendance
  predicted greater body dissatisfaction.
• Results for Boys
• Physical Risks As a set, physical risks did not
  account for significant variation in body
  dissatisfaction scores.
• Contextual Risks Being teased more about
  appearance predicted greater body
  dissatisfaction.
• Resource Factors As a set, resource factors did
  not account for significant variation in body
  dissatisfaction scores (this was also the case
  when father acceptance was tested in place of
  mother acceptance).
• Protective (Moderating) Effects of Resource
  Factors
• Hierarchical regressions were used to test the
  moderating effects of resource factors on the
  relations between significant risks and body
  dissatisfaction separately by gender.
• Significant risks were entered in the first block
  followed by resource factors in the second
  block. Interaction terms between each significant
  risk and each of the three resource factors were
  entered in the third block.
• Both for girls and for boys the blocks testing
  the interaction terms were not significant.

• RESULTS
• On average adolescents reported moderate to low
  levels of body dissatisfaction, with girls
  reporting greater body dissatisfaction than boys
  (girls M 2.75 SD .84 boys M 2.45 SD
  .86 t -.207, p
• Hierarchical regressions were used to predict
  body dissatisfaction from risks and resources
  separately by gender (see Table 1).

• CONCLUSIONS
• Body dissatisfaction and strongly associated risk
  factors were identified both for girls and boys
  but differing patterns of risks were found.
• For girls, three significant risk factors for
  body dissatisfaction were identified higher
  BMI, more figure management behaviour, and being
  teased about appearance.
• For boys, being teased about appearance was the
  only significant risk factor.
• These findings draw attention to the possibility
  that girls and boys alike who are teased about
  their appearance might need help dealing with
  this victimization and that girls might need
  additional help dealing with gains in weight as
  they mature.
• The only significant resource factors were mother
  and father acceptance for girls. No protective
  (moderating) effects against body dissatisfaction
  were found for any of the resource factors.
• These findings have important implications for
  the development of prevention and intervention
  programs. As Phelps et al. (1999) argued, it is
  useful to use what is known about risk factors
  for body dissatisfaction to guide the development
  of intervention programs for body
  dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
• As well, these results can inform future research
  on the development of body dissatisfaction.
  Risks and resources identified here should be
  included in multi- wave prospective studies in
  order to better understand the mechanisms
  involved in the development of body
  dissatisfaction and disordered eating across
  adolescence.

• METHOD
• Sample
• 170 adolescents (91 girls, 79 boys) from a
  medium-size Canadian city
• 83 7th graders (mean age 12 years 9 months)
• 87 10th graders (mean age 15 years 10 months)
• 85 Caucasian
• Procedure
• Participants in a longitudinal study of
  psychosocial maturity and problem behavior (the
  Victoria Adolescence Project)
• Wave 2 data were used in the current study
• Questionnaires were mailed to participants
  homes in the spring of 1999

Table 1 Hierarchical Regressions Predicting Body
Dissatisfaction from Risk Factors and Resource
Factors, by Gender
Note. a block betas. b significant in the
direction opposite to that hypothesized. n 81
girls, n 74 boys. p
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
American Psychological Association, Toronto, ON,
August, 2003.