engleski

Social influence and psychological functioning in the development of body image and eating disturbance in Croatian college females

Recent theoretical approaches to the etiology of eating disorders and body image disturbances have begun to focus on multifactorial models. In the current study, three primary core sources of influence that contribute to the development of body image and eating disturbances (parents, peers and media) were examined. We also assumed that perfectionism, overall psychological functioning (indicators were measures of self-esteem, depression and anxiety), internalization of societal appearance standards and appearance comparison processes might be related to the development of eating disordered behaviour and body dissatisfaction. This hypothesis was evaluated in a sample of 262 Croatian college females (ages 18-25 ; M=21.22+/- 1.47). Two hierarchical regression analyses were used to test this hypothesis. The results indicated that internalization of societal ideal of appearance significantly predicted bulimic and restrictive symptoms of disturbed eating behaviour. Media influence (girls’ interest in watching TV shows or reading magazines that cover topics such as dieting, exercise and fashion), perfectionism and appearance comparison were found as significant predictors of bulimic behaviour (binge eating, vomiting). The results also indicated that body image dissatisfaction was more closely related to restrictive than to bulimic behaviour. These findings could be useful for understanding processes that may predispose young women to develop body image disturbances and eating dysfunction and also indicate the need for prevention programs which incorporate formative influences and processes such as internalization of societal norms and appearance comparison processes in the construction of therapeutic strategies.

psychological functioning; social influence; internalization; social comparison; body image

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