Relationship Status, Relationship Satisfaction, and Female Body Issues

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: Adult Functioning: GED (General Educational Development) and Relationships

Abstract

As disordered eating symptoms increase amongst North American women, romantic relationships have been suggested as a protective factor against these symptoms. This study investigated the relationship between relationship status and relationship satisfaction and characteristics of disordered eating: body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, drive for thinness and dietary restraint. A sample of 126 North American women was surveyed using quantitative methods. Results suggested that regardless of relationship status, women are equally dissatisfied with their bodies, and relationship status is not related to disordered eating factors. However, women who reported having children were significantly more dissatisfied with their bodies than women without children, but displayed less disordered eating symptomology. This provides counsellors with invaluable information for working with both single and romantically engaged women.

Author

• Meredith MacKenzie, Adler School of Professional Psychology