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Explanations of body image disturbance: A test of maturational status, negative verbal commentary, social comparison, and sociocultural hypotheses
Author(s) -
Stormer Susan M.,
Thompson J. Kevin
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199603)19:2<193::aid-eat10>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , disturbance (geology) , eating disorders , sociocultural evolution , human physical appearance , clinical psychology , anthropology , paleontology , sociology , biology
Objective A number of hypotheses have been offered to explain the development and/or maintenance of body image disturbance. In this study, four factors which have been hypothesized to lead to body image problems were tested: maturational status (early physical development), negative verbal commentary (a history of being teased regarding physical appearance), behavioral social comparison, and awareness/internalization of sociocultural pressures. Methods: One hundred sixty‐two college females completed measures designed to index these four influences. Predictors were regressed onto multiple measures of body image and two indices of eating disturbance. Results: Even with self‐esteem and level of obesity removed as influences, social comparison and societal factors were significant predictors of body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance. Negative verbal commentary also explained a small part of the variance, however, maturational status did not contribute uniquely in any analysis. Discussion: The findings offer further support for emerging theories of body image and eating disturbance. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.