sociocultural influences on body image and body changes among adolescent boys and girls

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Sociocultural Influences onBody Image and Body ChangesAmong Adolescent Boys andGirlsMarita P. McCabe a & Lina A. Ricciardelli aa School of Psychology , Deakin University , Victoria,AustraliaPublished online: 03 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Marita P. McCabe & Lina A. Ricciardelli (2003) SocioculturalInfluences on Body Image and Body Changes Among Adolescent Boys and Girls, TheJournal of Social Psychology, 143:1, 5-26, DOI: 10.1080/00224540309598428

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The Journal of Social Psychology, 2003, 143(1), 5-26

Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Changes

Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

MARITA P. McCABE LINA A. RICCIARDELLI

School of Psychology Deakin University, Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT. In 2 studies, the authors evaluated the role of parents, peers, and the media in body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys and girls. The respondents for Study I (423 boys and 377 girls) completed the Body Image and Body Change Inventory (L. A. Ricciardelli & M. P. McCabe, 2002) and the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire (M. P. McCabe & L. A. Ric- ciardelli, 2001b). Body mass index and age were also included in the analyses. Regres- sion analyses demonstrated that sociocultural influences and feedback from the participant’s best male friend were important predictors for all body-change strategies among boys. For girls, sociocultural influences and feedback from the participant’s best female friend and mother were important predictors for body-change strategies. The most consistent predictor of weight loss, weight gain, and strategies to increase muscles was body- image importance. In Study 2,’ the authors examined the influence of the same sociocultural variables, as well as negative affect and puberty on body image and body-change strategies among a second group of 199 boys and 267 girls. The results demonstrated that a broad range of sociocultural influences predicted body-change strategies for boys and girls, with negative affect also having a unique influence for boys but not for girls. Puber- ty played a minor role, once other sociocultural variables were entered into the regression equation. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Key words: adolescence, body image, media influence, parental influence, peer influence, puberty, teenage dieting

ADOLESCENCE is a time of change, and the family and peer groups provide messages to adolescents that shape their behavior in a range of areas. In recent years researchers have increasingly focused on the role of parental, peer, and media in the body image and dieting behaviors of adolescents. One limitation of this research is that it has focused primarily on adolescent girls. The extent to which family, peers, and the media also influence body image and body- change strategies among boys requires further investigation. In the present

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6 The Journal of Social Psychology

research, we evaluated the influences of feedback by parents, peers, and the media on adolescent boys as well as adolescent girls, and we considered weight-gain strategies and behaviors to increase muscle tone as well as weight- loss strategies.

Most past research on family influences has evaluated the role of the family (particularly the mother) in predicting various types of weight-loss strategies among their daughters. Very little research has investigated parental influences on the eating behaviors of adolescent boys or explored strategies that may be more relevant to boys (weight gain, muscle increase). The family, particularly the mother, is perceived as the primary socialization agent who transmits messages to adolescents regarding their appearance and eating practices. For example, Pike and Rodin (199 1) examined the dieting behaviors of mothers of adolescent girls with disordered eating and found that they were more likely to also have experienced disordered eating than were the mothers of girls who did not experience disordered eating. They were also more likely to believe that their daughters should lose weight. Through modeling and encouragement from their mothers, girls with eating disorders were more likely to be rewarded for engaging in these behaviors than girls who did not experience eating disorders. Likewise, Kent and Clopton (1992) found that bulimic girls were more likely to have family members who also experienced weight and eating problems, and Moreno and Thelen (1993) found that bulimic girls were more likely to have mothers who encouraged them to lose weight and restrict their food intake.

Benedikt, Wertheim, and Love (1998) and Paxton et al. (1991) found that mothers’ encouragement to diet increased dieting behavior among adolescent girls. Dixon, Adair, and O’Connor (1996) also found that parental encouragement to diet (separate questions were not asked for mother and father) was associated with both body dissatisfaction and dieting behaviors among adolescent girls. However, there was no overall association between the dieting practices of parents and those of adolescent girls, although fathers’ dieting behavior was associated with some aspects of their daughters’ dieting behaviors. Keel, Heatherton, Harnden, and Hornig (1997) also found that although fathers influenced their daughters’ body dissatisfaction but not their eating practices, mothers had a greater influence on their daughters’ dieting behaviors.

In contrast to these findings, Steiger, Stotland, Ghadiriam, and Whitehead (1995) found no difference among binge eaters, dieters, and nondieters in the eating concerns of family members. The authors suggested that rather than an actual eating disturbance, it may be a general tendency toward some form of psychopathology that is associated with eating disturbance among adolescent girls. A follow-up study by Steiger, Stotland, Trottier, and Ghadiriam (1996)

Address correspondence to Marita I? McCabe, School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125 Australia; [email protected] (e - mail).

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McCabe & Ricciardelli 7

indicated that there was some association between daughters’ and mothers’ eating concerns, but that the strongest influence on disordered eating among adolescent girls was psychopathological traits of parents. Other researchers have also reported that parents of eating-disordered adolescents did not differ from control-group parents on dietary restraint or eating disturbances (Evans & le Grange, 1995; Leon, Fulkerson, Perry, & Dube, 1994), although some studies have revealed a relationship between mothers’ eating restraint and that of their daughters but not of their sons (Ruther & Richman, 1993; Scourfield, 1995; Thelen & Cormier, 1995).

The results from the aforementioned studies demonstrate a lack of clarity in the extent to which mothers and fathers may influence body satisfaction and dis- turbed eating among adolescent boys and girls, with a particular focus on girls. Furthermore, that research has focused on weight loss but neglected considera- tion of strategies to gain weight and increase muscle tone. These are strategies that may be particularly relevant to adolescent boys, but the impact of parental feedback on these strategies has not been explored. It is important to determine the nature of the feedback provided to adolescent boys, how it differs from that provided to adolescent girls, and the impact of this feedback on weight gain and strategies to increase muscle, as well as weight loss.

Peers also seem to exert some pressure among adolescent girls who adopt extreme weight-loss behaviors. Bulimics report being pressured by their peers to engage in both bingeing and purging (Mitchell, Hatsukami, Pyle, & Eckert, 1986; Stice, Nemeroff, & Shaw, 1996). In contrast, Paxton et al. (1991) claimed that few female friends encouraged dieting, and Gibbs (1986) found that the self-reported number of friends who were currently dieting was not a significant predictor of disordered eating among high school girls. The inconsistency in these findings is probably related to differences in the extent of eating problems among the adolescents in the various studies and to the different measures of disordered eating.

A substantial body of literature has evaluated the media’s impact on adolescent body image and disordered eating among girls. As for the other sociocultural influences, the media’s impact on body dissatisfaction and weight loss among boys has been neglected, as well as the research on weight gain and strategies to increase muscles. Because some boys who are in early adolescence evidence a desire to increase body bulk, but others evidence a desire to increase muscle tone (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001a), we consider these two dimensions separately. This separation also seems to be important given our limited understanding of body-change strategies adopted by adolescent boys and the confu- sion in the literature regarding the use of the terms “increase weight” and “increase muscle.” As future researchers address this issue, it may become apparent that the two concepts share a substantial amount of variance, but we cannot assume that this is the case.

Cusimano and Thompson (1997) found that both awareness of societal pres-

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sures and internalization of social standards of appearance were significant predictors of body image, eating dysfunction, and self-esteem among a group of college women. However, Posavac, Posavac, and Posavac (1998) found in a series of studies that media images were more likely to influence women who already experienced weight concerns, with women with low body dissatisfaction being less likely to respond to media influences. Griffiths and McCabe (2000) found that although perceived views of society predicted body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls, these sociocultural pressures did not predict disordered eating after the researchers accounted for a range of other biological and psychological adjustment variables.

Few studies have examined the combined effects of family, peers, and the media within a single research design. In particular, no studies have examined the impact of these variables on adolescent boys and their strategies to increase weight and muscle tone. Levine, Smolak, and Hayden (1994) assessed eating behavior, body satisfaction, and concern about being slender among 385 girls aged 10 to 14 years. The authors found that the media and teasing and criticism by the family were the strongest predictors of body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. Family and peers, but not the media, were found to be the strongest influences on bulimic symptomatology among young adult women (Stice, 1998). Stice found that this influence took place through social reinforcement and modeling, a finding that is supported by earlier research. Taylor et al. (1998) found that peers were the strongest influence on weight concerns among high school girls, although the media also significantly influenced concerns about weight. Perceived pressure to be thin from family, friends, dating partners, and the media has been shown to be related to bulimic symptoms (Irving, 1990; Stice, Ziemba, Margolis, & Flick, 1996).

Most studies have focused on girls and on weight-loss behaviors. Whether the same relationships apply to boys or to other body-change strategies is unclear. Ricciardelli, McCabe, and Banfield (2000) found that parents, siblings, friends, and the media were perceived by about one third of the adolescent boys in their study to have an influence on their feelings about their body and their body- change strategies. However, there were only 40 participants in this study, so it is not possible to extend the findings to adolescent boys in general. Obtaining a bet- ter understanding of sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction and body- change behaviors among adolescent boys requires inclusion of all the major sociocultural influences-mother, father, best male friend, best female friend, and media-within the single study. It is also vital to investigate the impact of these influences on strategies to increase weight and muscle tone as well as strategies for weight loss, because these are behaviors that are more likely to move boys closer to the ideal body generated by society. It is also important to obtain a clear- er picture of the sociocultural messages for adolescent girls in this broader range of body change techniques.

Our aim in the present study was to investigate the perceived influence of

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parents, peers, and the media on body image, weight loss, weight gain, and strategies to increase muscle tone on young adolescent boys and girls.

STUDY 1

Method

Participants

The respondents were 800 adolescents (423 boys, 377 girls) who were enrolled in Grades 7-10. The mean age for the boys was 13.92 years (SD = 1.18), and for the girls it was 13.69 (SD = 1.1 1). These respondents were drawn from six coeducational high schools in Melbourne, Australia. The respondents were largely Anglo-Saxon (77%); the remainder were largely of European descent, and a minority were of Asian descent.

Materials

All respondents provided demographic information on age, weight, and height. They also completed the Body Image and Body Change Inventory (Ric- ciardelli & McCabe, 2002) and the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001b). The Body Image and Body Change Inventory consists of seven scales: Body Image Satisfaction (e.g., “How satisfied are you with your weight?’), Body Image Importance (e.g., “How important is the size of your muscles compared to other things in your life?’); Body Change Strategies to Decrease Weight (e.g., “How often do you eat less to lose weight?’); Body Change Strategies to Increase Weight (e.g., “How often do you exercise more to put on weight?’); Body Change Strategies to Increase Muscle Tone (e.g., “How often do you change your eating to make your muscles bigger?’); Binge Eating (e.g., “How often do you quickly eat a large amount of food?’); and Food Supplements (e.g., “How often do you take food supplements or diet pills to lose weight?’). These scales have been shown to be reliable and valid in a series of four studies using 1,732 adolescent boys and girls. The scales have been subjected to both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using oblique rotation. They demonstrate high levels of internal consistency ( r > .92), concurrent and discriminant validity, and satisfac- tory test-retest reliability ( r > .75; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2002). The advantage of these scales over existing measures is that they evaluate areas of body image concern and body-change strategies that have relevance to boys as well as girls (e.g., strategies to increase weight and muscle, use of food supplements).

The Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire consists of five scales: Feedback From Father, Feedback From Mother, Feedback From Best Male Friend, Feedback From Best Female Friend,

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and Media Influences. Each of the four feedback scales has been shown to factor into three subscales assessing general feedback (e.g., “What type of feedback do you receive from your father about the size or shape of your body?’); encouragement, teasing, and behavioral example to gain weight and increase muscle tone (e.g., “Does your mother encourage you to become more muscular?’); and encouragement, teasing, and behavioral example to lose weight and increase muscle tone (e.g., “Does your best male friend try to put on weight?’). Three items that assessed feedback to increase muscle tone loaded with both strategies to gain weight and strategies to lose weight, and so were included in both scales (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001b). The Media Influences Scale has been shown to form three subscales assessing pressure to lose weight (e.g., “Do you think the media give you the idea that you should exercise more to lose weight?’); pressure to gain weight (e.g., “Do you think the media give you the idea that you should eat more to gain weight?’); and pressure to increase muscle tone (e.g., “Do you think the media give you the idea you should be more muscular?’). All of these scales have demonstrated high levels of internal consistency ( r > .84) and have been subject to both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using oblique rotation (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001b). The advantage of these scales over existing measures is that they evaluate the role of a number of possible sociocultural influences within one questionnaire, and they also evaluate the extent to which these sociocultural influences are perceived to generate messages that relate to increasing weight and muscles as well as losing weight.

Procedure

Permission was received from the Department of Education for high schools within the State of Victoria to participate in a study of body image and body- change techniques among adolescent boys and girls. Parental consent and student consent were both obtained before respondents completed the questionnaire. All but 2% of the respondents who were asked to take part in the study agreed to do so. The questionnaire was completed during a single class period.

Results and Discussion

An examination of the responses to the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire indicated that there was a great deal of consistency in the perceived messages received from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend in relation to each of the body-change strategies. Therefore, the messages regarding eating and exercise from these four sociocultural influences were combined to form new scales that evaluated perceived pressures to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscle tone. The alpha coef- ficients for these new scales were as follows: decrease weight (boys a = .80; girls a = .74); increase weight (boys a = .83; girls a = .72); increase muscle (boys a =

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McCabe & Ricciardelli 1 1

.78; girls CY = .73). The intercorrelations between each of these new perceived sociocultural influences were as follows: decrease weight with increase weight ( r = .23), decrease weight with increase muscle ( r = .45), and increase weight with increase muscle ( r = .49). The three general feedback items regarding body size and shape for each of the four sociocultural influences were retained as separate scales, because the general feedback about body showed lower correlations with each of the sociocultural influences ( r < .29). The Media Influences Scale was separated into three subscales assessing perceived pressure from the media to decrease weight, perceived pressure from the media to increase weight, and perceived pressure from the media to increase muscles.

Seven standard multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls to examine the influence of parents, peers, and the media on body image and body-change strategies. The dependent variables were body-image satisfaction, body-image importance, strategies to decrease weight, strategies to increase weight, strategies to increase muscle tone, binge eating, and food supplements. The independent variables for each analysis were age, body mass index (BMI), feedback from mother, feedback from father, feedback from best male friend, feedback from best female friend, sociocultural influences to increase weight, sociocultural influences to decrease weight, sociocultural influences to increase muscles, media pressure to lose weight, media pressure to gain weight, and media pressure to increase muscle tone. For each of the body-change strategies, body-image importance and body-image satisfaction were also entered into the regression equations. Body-image importance was also included in the body- image-satisfaction equations, and body-image satisfaction was included in the body-image-importance equations.

Summaries of the regression equations for boys and girls are contained in Tables 1 and 2. Only significant predictors are included in those tables, although all variables were included in the regression equations. The results demonstrate that the sociocultural variables more frequently predicted body image and body- change strategies than did the biological variables of age and BMI, although these biological variables played a greater role for boys than for girls. For boys, age was a unique predictor for body-image satisfaction and strategies to decrease weight, and BMI was also a unique predictor for strategies to decrease weight, as well as for the use of food supplements. The only significant relationship for girls was where BMI uniquely predicted levels of body-image satisfaction. Overall, the sociocultural variables included in this study explained a minimum to mod- erate amount of the variance in body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys or girls (between 9% and 46% of the variance).

Perceived sociocultural pressures played a unique role in predicting all of the body image and body-change strategies for adolescent boys and girls, except for binge eating for adolescent boys. The sociocultural pressures that appeared to have most influence for boys were those directed at increasing weight and, particularly, increasing muscle. Pressures to decrease weight uniquely predicted

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TABLE 1 Summary of Regression Analyses for Boys, Study 1

Dependent variable F R2 Unique predictor P

Satisfaction

Importance

Decrease weight

5.17*** (13,409) .I4

3.05*** (13,409) .09

15.21***(14, 408) .34

Increase weight

Increase muscles

Binge eating Food supplements

10.1 I*** (14,408) .26

8.40*** (14,408) .22

3.41***(14,408) . I 1 8.09*** (14,408) .22

Age Importance Feedback-father Pressure-decrease weight Media-increase muscles Satisfaction Feedback-best female

friend Pressure-increase

muscles Age BMI Satisfaction Importance Pressuredecrease weight Pressure-increase weight Pressure-increase

muscles Media pressure-decrease

weight Media pressure-increase

muscles Importance Feedback-best male


muscles Media-increase weight Importance Feedback-best male


muscles Importance BMI Feedback-mother Pressure-increase weight Pressure-increase

muscles

. I o* -. 18*** -.19**

.24**

.23** -.19***

-.20**

.25**

.16***

.14**

.18***

.42***

-. 14**

-.17*

.15*

.34***

-.31*** .21***

-.14*

.30***

.20**

.25***

-.17**

.39***

.11*

.16**

.14*

.17*

.23**

Note. BMI = body mass index. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

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TABLE 2 Summary of Regression Analyses for Girls, Study 1


Satisfaction

Importance

Decrease weight

Increase weight

Increase muscles

Binge eating Food supplements

8.77*** (13,363) .24

4.45*** (13, 363) .I4

21.97***(14, 362) .46

8.12*** (14, 362) .24

7.00*** (14, 362) .21

2.42** (14, 362) .09 8.56*** (14, 362) .25

BMI Importance Feedback-mother Pressure-decrease weight Media-decrease weight Satisfaction Feedback-mother Media-increase weight Satisfaction Importance Pressure-decrease weight Pressure-increase muscles Media-decrease weight Importance Feedback-best female

friend Pressure-decrease weight Pressure-increase

muscles Importance Pressure-increase weight Pressure-increase

muscles Pressure-increase weight Satisfaction Importance Feedback-best female

friend Feedback-mother Feedback-increase

Media-increase weight muscles

.18***

.21*** -.20**

.26***

.15**

.23***

.14* -. 14*

.36***

.24***

.20***

.14**

.19***

. 1 1 *

-.32*** .16**

.18***

.18***

.12*

.27***

.20**

.21***

.23***

-.21** .13*

.16**

.14*

Note. BMI = body mass index. * p < .05. "*p < .01. ***p < ,001.

body-image satisfaction and strategies to decrease weight. Pressures to increase muscles uniquely predicted body-image importance and strategies to decrease weight, increase weight, and increase muscle tone. Pressures to increase weight uniquely predicted strategies to decrease weight, strategies to increase weight, and the use of food supplements.

These results are consistent with those of previous studies that demonstrate

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that sociocultural pressures directed at adolescent boys are related to their achiev- ing a slim, muscular body (Drewnowski, Kurth, & Krahn, 1995; McCabe & Ric- ciardelli, 2001a; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999). The interesting aspect of this study is that the data empirically demonstrate that not only are these messages being generated by these sociocultural influences, but also they are actually having an impact on both the body image and body-change strategies that are adopted by adolescent boys. The fact that perceived messages about strategies to increase muscles (and to a lesser extent strategies to increase weight) influenced such a broad range of body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys indicates that adolescent boys as well as adolescent girls are influenced by these sociocultural forces.

Interestingly, it is not possible to identify a single major source of sociocultural influence that is likely to have the most impact. As opposed to previous studies that have suggested that both mothers and fathers influence body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys (Ricciardelli et al., 2000), we found that feedback from father was a unique predictor for body-image satisfaction, feedback from mother was a unique predictor for food supplements, feedback from best male friend was a unique predictor for strategies to increase muscle tone and increase weight, and feedback from best female friend was a unique predictor for body-image importance.

A surprising finding in the present study was that the significant sociocultural predictors among adolescent girls were perceived pressures to increase weight and increase muscles, as well as to decrease weight. Perceived sociocultural pressures to decrease weight uniquely predicted body-image satisfaction, strategies to increase weight, and strategies to decrease weight; perceived pressures to increase muscles uniquely predicted strategies to decrease weight, strategies to increase muscle tone, and the use of food supplements; perceived pressures to increase weight uniquely predicted strategies to increase weight, strategies to increase muscle tone, and binge eating.

These results highlight the importance of determining the actual messages that are perceived to be delivered by sociocultural influences. Past research has focused primarily on messages to decrease weight (e.g., Benedikt et al., 1998; Paxton et al., 1991; Pike & Rodin, 1991), but this study would suggest that the body-change strategies that adolescent girls engage in are shaped by messages to increase muscle tone and increase weight, as well as messages to decrease weight.

Consistent with previous research, feedback from the mother and, to a lesser extent from the best female friend, were the most important influences shaping both body image and behavior. Feedback from mother uniquely predicted body-image satisfaction and importance, as well as the use of food supplements. Feedback from best female friend uniquely predicted strategies to increase weight and the use of food supplements.

Feedback from female friends was more likely to predict body-change strategies among adolescent girls than feedback from male friends. General feedback

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from best female friend predicted the use of food supplements and strategies to increase weight. Surprisingly, feedback from the best female friend did not predict weight-loss behaviors among adolescent girls. These findings are supported by the results of Paxton et al. (1991) and Gibbs (1986), but contrast with other findings (e.g., Mitchell et a]., 1986; Stice et al., 1996). Perhaps feedback from friends predicts weight-loss behaviors only for adolescents who are already engaging in extreme weight-loss strategies (e.g., bulimia, anorexia). Gaining weight among adolescent girls has received little research attention, and so the role of sociocultural influences on predicting those behaviors is unclear. These results need to be further investigated to determine whether they are found in a different group of adolescent girls.

The media did not play a strong role in body image or body-change strategies, particularly among adolescent boys. However, media influences to lose weight were a unique predictor of strategies to lose weight; media influences to increase weight were a unique predictor of strategies to increase weight; and media influences to increase muscle predicted body-image satisfaction among adolescent boys. Among adolescent girls, media pressure to increase weight uniquely predicted both body-image importance and the use of food supplements, and media pressure to decrease weight uniquely predicted body-image satisfaction and strategies to decrease weight. These findings would suggest (a) that the media are sending messages about the ideal body shape for boys that are consistent with the body-change strategies they are using and (b) that body satisfaction relates to the media messages they are getting about their muscles. Consistent with the findings of Cusimano and Thompson (1997), media pressures uniquely predicted body image, strategies to decrease weight, and use of food supplements. These results are inconsistent with the findings of Posavac et al. (1998), who found that the media influenced weight-loss behaviors only among those adolescent girls who were engaged in extreme weight-loss behaviors.

Body-image importance was a unique predictor of most body-change behaviors among both adolescent girls and boys. This may suggest that only girls and boys who place a high importance on their body image will engage in behaviors to alter their body weight and shape. The importance placed on body image in terms of predicting body-change strategies was a surprising finding and one that needs to be validated and explored further.

STUDY 2

The results of Study I demonstrated that although self-reported sociocultural influences explained only a limited amount of the variance, they played a more important role in predicting body image and body-change strategies to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscle tone, than did the biodevelopmental variables of age and BMI. Given the fact that many of these dimensions of body- change strategies have not been investigated in previous studies, we conducted a

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second study to determine whether these findings would be replicated in anoth- er sample of adolescent boys and girls.

In addition, Study 2 included pubertal development and negative affect. Although a range of other variables have been associated with body-change strategies, particularly among adolescent girls, these two variables were seen to be most likely to contribute additional unique variance beyond that provided by the current set of variables. Puberty was chosen because the respondents for this study were adolescent boys and girls, and so the changes in body form at this stage of development were expected to affect both body image and body-change strategies. Negative affect was included as an additional variable because of the strong relationships demonstrated in previous studies between negative affect and body dissatisfaction and weight loss among adolescent girls. It seemed important, therefore, to determine if these previous findings also extended to other body- change strategies and to body-change strategies among adolescent boys. The literature that argues for the inclusion of these two variables as well as the sociocultural and other biodevelopmental variables is outlined below.

Although both pubertal development and negative affect have been linked to body dissatisfaction, dieting behaviors, and binge eating-particularly among adolescent girls-their role regarding other kinds of body-change strategies has yet to be determined. With pubertal development, girls experience a normative increase in body fat that inevitably moves them further away from society’s ideal body shape for a woman. Therefore, it is not surprising that several studies have found puberty to be associated with higher levels of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among girls (e.g., Attie & Brooks-Gunn, 1989; Dombusch et al., 1984; Gralen, Levine, Smolak, & Mumen, 1990; Keel, Fulkerson, & Leon, 1997; Swarr & Richards, 1996). In contrast, three studies that included boys failed to find any relationship between pubertal development and disordered eating (e.g., Keel et al., 1997; Leon, Fulkerson, Perry, & Early-Zald, 1995; Vincent & McCabe, 2000). In contrast to puberty in girls, puberty moves the majority of boys closer to society’s ideal body shape for boys. Therefore, pubertal development for boys may be more closely related to strategies to increase weight and increase muscle tone.

Negative affect has been shown to be closely related to body dissatisfaction, weight-loss strategies, and binge eating among women and adolescent girls (e.g., Killen et al., 1994; Leon, Fulkerson, Perry, Keel, & Klump, 1999; Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2001; Shepherd & Ricciardelli, 1998; Stice, Hayward, Cameron, Killen, & Taylor, 2000; Stice, Shaw, & Nemeroff, 1998; Thompson, Coovert, Richards, Johnson, & Cattarin, 1995). Fewer studies have examined the same relationships among men and adolescent boys, and findings have not been consistent. Although some investigations with men and boys suggest that negative affect may also play an important role in determining body dissatisfaction, dieting, and binge eating (e.g., Koenig & Wasserman, 1995; Leal, Weise, & Dodd, 1995; Leon et al., 1999; McCabe & Vincent, in press), others have found no evi-

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dence to support this view (e.g., Keel, Fulkerson, et al., 1997; Leon et al., 1995; Wertheim et al., 1992). In Study 2, we further examined (a) these relationships for adolescent boys and (b) the role of negative affect in relation to weight gain and increasing muscles, as well as to weight loss.

Method

Participants

The respondents were 466 adolescents (199 boys, 267 girls) who were enrolled in Grades 7-10. The mean age for the boys was 14.02 years (SD = 1.00), and the mean age for girls was 13.92 years (SD = 0.94). These respondents were drawn from four coeducational high schools in Melbourne, Australia. The respondents were largely Anglo-Saxon (82%); the remainder were mostly of European origin, and a minority were of Asian descent.

Materials

The same questionnaires as for Study I were completed by all participants. In addition, all participants completed the Pubertal Development Scale (Petersen, Crockett, Richards, & Boxer, 1988) and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995).

The Pubertal Development Scale (five items) was used to assess pubertal growth. Boys were asked about the development of their body hair, facial hair, voice change, skin change, and growth spurt. Girls were asked about the development of body hair, skin change, menarche, breasts, and growth spurt. Respon- dents were required to indicate growth development for each aspect on a 4-point scale (had not begun, had barely begun, was de$nitely underway, or had ceased). Higher scores indicate higher levels of pubertal development. Good reliability and validity data for the scale have been reported by Petersen et al. (1988).

The Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale was used to assess negative affect. Respondents are required to indicate the extent to which they experienced each item over the past week by circling the number on a Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (did not apply at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the rime). Higher scores indicate a greater degree of negative emotional symptoms. High levels of reliability and validity for the instrument are reported by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995).

Procedure

The same procedure was used for the completion of the questionnaire as was used in Study 1. Of the respondents who were approached to take part in the study, 97% agreed to participate and completed the questionnaire.

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18 The Journul of Social Psychology

Results and Discussion

Seven standard multiple regression analyses (similar to those for Study 1) were conducted separately for boys and girls using the same dependent variables. Includ- ed in the independent variable list were the two additional variables, negative affect and pubertal development. A summary of the multiple regression analyses is given in Tables 3 and 4.

Overall, the amount of variance in body image and the body-change strategies being explained in Study 2 were greater than in Study 1. Consistent with previous research, which has been conducted primarily with females, the present study

TABLE 3 Summary of Regression Analyses for Boys, Study 2

Dependent variable F R? Unique predictor P

Satisfaction

Importance

Decrease weight

Increase weight

Increase muscles

Binge eating

Food supplements

3.13*** (15, 183) .20

3.13*** (15, 183) .20

7.41*** (16, 182) .40

6.31*** (16, 182) .36

8.19*** (16, 182) .42

3.01*** (16, 182) .21

6.67*** (16, 182) .37

BMI Importance Feedback-father Negative affect Satisfaction Pressure-increase muscles Pubertal development Importance Pressure-decrease weight Pressure-increase weight Satisfaction Importance Feedback-best female

friend** Pressure-increase weight Negative affect Importance Feedback father Pressure-increase weight Negative affect Media-increase weight Media-increase muscles Negative affect Satisfaction Feedback-father Media-increase weight Pubertal development Negative affect

.20**

.16* -.25**

.19*

.16* -.47 * * *

.17*

.25*** -.52***

.28** -.15*

.15*

.18* -.41*** -. 14*

.24*** -.21** -.27** -.15* -.17*

.21* -. 19* -.15* -.28** -.19**

.18** -.21**

Note. BMI = body mass index. * p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < ,001.

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TABLE 4 Summary of Regression Analyses for Girls, Study 2


Satisfaction

Importance

Decrease weight

Increase weight

Increase muscles

Binge eating

Food supplements

4.99*** (15, 251) .23

4.53*** (15,251) .21

8.12*** (16, 250) .34

3.08** (16,250) .I6

5.69*** (16, 250) .27

4.76*** (16, 250) .23

6.86*** (16, 250) .3 I

BMI Importance Feedback-father Pressuredecrease weight Negative affect Satisfaction Feedback-mother Pressure-increase muscles Satisfaction Importance Pressure-decrease weight Media-decrease weight Feedback-mother Feedback-best male friend Feedback-best female

Pressure-increase muscles Pubertal development Feedback-mother Feedback-father Feedback-best male friend Feedback-best female

Pressure-increase muscles

Satisfaction Feedback-mother Feedback-best male friend Pressure-decrease weight

friend

friend

Age

.15* -. 19** -.18**

.13*

.21** -.19**

.14* -.30*** -.28***

.17** -.25*** -.20**

.20** -.21**

.18* -.49***

.16*

.21**

.19** -.17*

-.26*** -.27**

.14* -.13*

.15* -. I7* -. 18**

Nore. BMI = body mass index. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < ,001.

showed that negative affect was a unique predictor of body-image satisfaction for both girls and boys. Negative affect was also a unique predictor of strategies to increase weight, of strategies to increase muscle tone, of binge eating, and of the use of food supplements for the boys; for the girls, however, negative affect did not uniquely predict any body-change strategies. Although there is past research that has linked negative affect to both strategies to decrease weight and binge eating, the other kinds of body-change strategies included in our study have not been previously linked to negative affect. Contrary to expectations, negative affect was not found to be a strong predictor of body-change strategies for adolescent girls (Ric- ciardelli & McCabe, 2001; Stice et al., 1998).

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20 The Journal of Socid Psychology

Pubertal development was found to be a unique predictor of strategies to increase muscle tone for girls. For boys, pubertal development was a unique predictor of body-image importance and use of food supplements. These results suggest (a) that puberty on its own does not predict body image and body-change strategies but (b) that puberty predicts the use of food supplements that may then be used by adolescent boys and girls who are out of phase with their peers in their pubertal development. This proposal needs further examination, to determine the exact nature of food supplements being used by adolescents who are at different stages of pubertal development.

On the whole, the other results for the boys from Study 2 were consistent with those from Study 1. The findings showed that both father and mother played an important role in transmitting sociocultural messages that affected boys’ weight-loss and weight-gain strategies, with father playing a somewhat more important role, and mother a less important role, than in Study 1. Peers were not seen to play a strong role in shaping body image or body-change strategies for adolescent boys or girls, although female friends did have some impact on increasing weight for boys and increasing muscle tone for girls, and best male friend played a role in the use of food supplements and binge eating for girls. Although only a limited amount of variance was explained, fathers appear to be more influential than either mothers or peers in determining strategies to increase muscle tone among boys. This suggests that boys are modeling on the behavior of their fathers. One would expect that fathers would play a more significant role than mothers in increasing muscle tone, and the present findings are consistent with these expectations. Not surprisingly, a broader range of sociocultural pressures affected body-change strategies for girls.

For boys, the only findings in Study 2 that completely differed from those in Study 1 were for binge eating. In Study 1, body-image importance was the sole unique predictor of binge eating, but in Study 2 binge eating was predicted by negative affect and pressure from the media to gain weight and increase muscle tone. However, only a small amount of variance was explained in both studies. The sociocultural predictors of binge eating were also different between Study 1 and 2 . Whereas sociocultural influences to increase weight were the only unique predictor in Study 1, feedback from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend, as well as sociocultural pressures to increase muscle uniquely predicted binge eating in Study 2. The sociocultural predictors of extreme forms of eating behaviors clearly require more investigation, focusing primarily on those individuals who adopt these types of behaviors.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Study 1 was designed to evaluate sociocultural influences on body image, weight loss, weight gain, and strategies to increase muscles among adolescent boys and girls. BMI and age were also included in the design of the study. The

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McCabe & Ricciardelli 2 I

influence of these variables on body image and body-change strategies was further evaluated in Study 2, as well as the impact of puberty and negative affect.

Importance of body image consistently predicted satisfaction with body image, and satisfaction with body image predicted its importance. BMI also appeared to play some role in body satisfaction. This finding was present for both boys and girls in both studies and is consistent with past research findings. BMI predicted weight loss for boys in Study 1, but not in either study for girls, an observation that would suggest that boys who are overweight may engage in weight-loss strategies, but the weight-loss strategies adopted by girls are not dependent on weight. For boys, the cultural message is to obtain a muscular build, and so only boys with a greater BMI may engage in weight-loss strategies.

Feedback from both mothers and fathers influenced adolescents’ satisfaction with their bodies. Surprisingly, they did not predict weight loss among either girls or boys, but they may have had an indirect effect on weight loss through their influence on body satisfaction. However, parents’ influence explained only a small amount of the variance, and the results were inconsistent across the two studies and so need to be explored further. Specific feedback from both mothers and fathers seemed to more consistently affect extreme body-change strategies such as use of food supplements and binge eating. This finding suggests that if adolescent boys and girls detect feedback from their parents about their body and shape, they might adopt these extreme strategies to alter their bodies. This is the first series of studies to investigate parental influences on this broad range of body-change strategies, so these findings need to be further investigated.

Parents were more important sociocultural transmitters of messages for both adolescent boys and girls than were peers or the media. However, both male and female friends played a role in predicting body-change strategies for adolescent girls and, to a lesser extent, for adolescent boys. This role was greater for female friends than it was for male friends. Consistent with the findings with parents, the feedback primarily affected either extreme body-change strategies (e.g., binge eating, use of food supplements) or strategies that moved the adolescent away from the sociocultural ideal (e.g., feedback from male and female friends influencing strategies to increase weight in adolescent girls). These results are consistent with past studies on adolescent girls (e.g., Levine et al., 1994; Stormer & Thompson, 1996). They indicate that both male and female friends influence body-change strategies among adolescent girls but are less likely to affect body- change strategies among adolescent boys. These findings suggest either that adolescent boys are not heeding messages from their peers or that they are failing to act on this feedback. Future research is needed to explore this issue further.

The broader sociocultural pressures that involved perceived pressures from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend on body-change strategies had a measurable impact on weight loss for both boys and girls. Thus, these broader messages may be more likely to shape body-change strategies than specific messages from parents and peers about the adolescent’s body size and shape.

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These broader sociocultural pressures to change weight influenced most of the body-change strategies for adolescent boys and girls, and the nature of the perceived pressures was largely consistent with the type of strategy that the adolescent adopted.

The results of this study are quite complex in relation to the role of parents and peers in shaping body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys and girls. It appears that there is a significant amount of overlap among the different groups in the nature of the messages provided to adolescents about which body-change strategies to use. When the effect of these perceived messages influenced a body-change strategy, it had an impact on the type of strategy that the adolescent adopted. The results of this study raise questions about the most valid method to use to determine the nature and impact of feedback and perceived pressure from parents and peers on body image and body-change strategies. Fur- ther research is necessary to determine whether it is best to represent the feedback from each individual or if it is best to assess the combined impact of these individuals in relation to a particular strategy (e.g., for the adolescent to lose weight, increase weight, or increase muscle tone).

Media messages had little impact on the prediction of body image or body- change strategies adopted by adolescent boys, with media influencing strategies only to decrease weight and to increase weight in Study 1 and to use food supplements and to engage in binge eating in Study 2. Either adolescent boys do not perceive that the media are addressing messages regarding their body image to them, or the messages are not strong or coherent enough to have an effect on body image or the adoption of behaviors to move adolescent boys closer to the cultural ideal. Alternatively, the messages may not have an impact because boys choose not to respond to them. More research is needed to determine which of these explanations best represents the findings in these studies. With other sociocultural variables in the regression equation, media was not a major predictor of body image and body-change strategies for adolescent girls, with the only consistent finding related to media being its influence on decreasing weight. Although these findings are at variance with past studies, they may be due to the inclusion of a range of other factors in the regression equations, which may have explained the variance that has previously been attributed to the influences of the media.

In addition to the sociocultural influences, BMI, and age, in Study 2 we also examined the impact of pubertal development and negative affect. The unique contribution of pubertal development in comparison with the sociocultural variables was minimal, although negative affect appeared to have some impact, particularly among adolescent boys. Pubertal development may exert an influence on body image and body-change strategies in a less direct way, and its influence may be mediated by sociocultural variables such as messages about adolescents’ bodies from parents, peers, or the media). That is, the messages provided to early- or late-maturing boys and girls about their bodies may be influencing the body image and body-change strategies, rather than pubertal development’s having a

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direct impact. For fuller exploration of the nature of these influences, researchers should use longitudinal studies to track the development of puberty, negative affect, and the sociocultural variables in relation to body image and body-change strategies.

In this study we investigated aspects of body image and body-change strategies that have not been explored in previous studies. Clearly, these findings need to be examined further. The findings are limited by the narrow cultural back- ground of the adolescents, and it is important to determine whether these results apply to adolescents from other cultural backgrounds. It is also important to extend the age range of respondents and to determine the nature of the sociocultural predictors among both preadolescent and older adolescent respondents.

Finally, the amounts of variance explained by these sociocultural, biological, and emotional variables were quite different (ranging from 9% to 46%). For areas in which the variance was small, it is important to investigate other elements that contribute to body image and body-change strategies among adolescent boys and girls. Although the present studies have provided some understanding of these variables as they relate to body image and weight loss among adolescent girls (e.g., ineffectiveness, self-esteem), researchers need to determine whether these same variables are relevant for boys and whether they predict weight gain and increased muscle tone. It is also important to note that the sociocultural influences were self-reported, and so different findings may be obtained if other measures of sociocultural influences are used. The findings from the present studies have implications for intervention strategies to address problem areas not only for weight loss but also with adolescents engaging in health-damaging behaviors designed to gain weight or to increase muscle size and strength.

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Received December 19, 2000 Accepted July 27, 2001

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sociocultural influences on body image and body changes among adolescent boys and girls

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