A prospective study on the impact of peer and parental pressure on body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls and boys
- The current study explores the role of appearance-related social pressure regarding changes in body image in adolescent girls (n = 236) and boys (n = 193) over a 1-year-period. High school students aged 11-16 completed measures of body dissatisfaction (i.e., weight and muscle concerns) and appearance-related social pressure from peers and parents. Three aspects proved to be particularly crucial: Parental encouragement to control weight and shape was a strong predictor of weight concerns in boys and girls alike; influences of friends affected gender-specific body image concerns by leading to weight concerns in girls and muscle concerns in boys; finally appearance-based exclusion was a predictor of weight concerns in boys. The findings provide longitudinal evidence for the crucial impact of appearance-related social pressure and suggest that a detailed assessment of different types of social impacts can identify concrete targets for effective prevention and therapy for weight-related problems among adolescents.
Author details: | Susanne Helfert, Petra WarschburgerORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2011.01.004 |
ISSN: | 1740-1445 |
Title of parent work (English): | Body image : an international journal of research |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Place of publishing: | Amsterdam |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2011 |
Publication year: | 2011 |
Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
Tag: | Adolescence; Body dissatisfaction; Longitudinal; Parental pressure; Peer pressure; Weight and muscle concerns |
Volume: | 8 |
Issue: | 2 |
Number of pages: | 9 |
First page: | 101 |
Last Page: | 109 |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Psychologie |