fairfolio
Saved Projects

Social Appearance Anxiety Moderates Thin Ideal and Eating Disorder Symptoms

AJAS · 2019 Behavioural and Social Sciences (inferred)

Betty Ngo · Kentucky Academy of Science

Overview

Thin ideal internalization, or the internalized belief that thinness is the ideal body type, is a risk and maintenance factor for eating disorder (ED) symptoms (Culbert et al., 2015). However, theories suggest that thin ideal internalization alone does not lead to ED symptoms; rather, research indicates that other factors interact with thin ideal internalization to contribute to ED symptoms (Stice, 2002). Clarifying which factors lead to EDs in conjunction with thin ideal internalization may lead to better prevention and treatment of EDs through the identification of targets for intervention. One such factor may be social appearance anxiety (SAA), or the fear of being negatively judged based on one’s appearance (Hart et al., 2008). SAA prospectively predicts ED symptoms and is related to many additional risk factors for EDs, such as perfectionism (Brosof & Levinson, 2017). Because both thin ideal internalization and SAA create risk for later ED development, it is ideal to investigate these factors in individuals during a period of high risk for ED (i.e., adolescence). Thus, the current study (N = 232 high school adolescent females) examined (a) the unique relationships between thin ideal internalization and SAA, and ED symptoms, and (b) whether SAA moderated the relationship between thin ideal internalization and ED symptoms. We found that both thin ideal internalization (partial r = .31, p < .001) and SAA (partial r = .62, p < .001) were uniquely associated with ED symptoms. Additionally, we found that SAA (partial r = .22, p = .001) moderated this relationship, such that higher SAA was associated with higher ED symptoms in individuals with higher, rather than lower, thin ideal internalization. SAA and thin ideal internalization both uniquely related to ED symptoms. Further, SAA and thin ideal internalization interacted to contribute to ED symptoms in a sample of adolescents at risk for EDs. These results showed that adolescents higher in both SAA and thin ideal internalization were more likely to be higher in ED symptoms, more so than adolescents low in one or both of these risk factors. It may be that adolescents who internalize thinness as the ideal body type and fear rejection because of appearance are more likely to develop unhealthy eating attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, these individuals may use ED behaviors to change their bodies to fit the thin ideal and be accepted. These findings show that individuals who are high in both SAA and thin ideal internalization may be particularly at risk for developing ED symptoms. Screening for such individuals may aid in more targeted prevention and treatment efforts by identifying high-risk individuals who may benefit from ED prevention efforts.

Competition history

  • AJAS 2019 Category not listed

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: AAAS Annual Meeting (Confex) / American Junior Academy of Science

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google