Poster #200 - Adolescent Girls’ BMI, Body Dissatisfaction, and Perceived Maternal Body Dissatisfaction: Effects on Self-Esteem

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Background: Numerous studies have shown that body mass index (BMI), body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem are highly related during adolescence (e.g., Wichstrom & Soest, 2016), particularly among girls (Furnham et al., 2002). Longitudinal research suggests that among early-adolescent girls, body dissatisfaction mediates the relationship between between BMI and self-esteem (Paxton et al., 2006). Little research, however, has considered the role of judgement from others in this mediation. Past research has found that adolescents who perceive their mothers to be critical of the teen’s body engage in higher levels of disordered eating (Shomaker & Furman, 2009). It is likely that the perceived body-judgement of one’s mother might also be related to body image and self-esteem.
Therefore, the current study had two goals. First, we examined the hypothesis that adolescent body dissatisfaction mediates the relationship between body mass index percentile (BMI) and self-esteem. Second, we examined the hypothesis that the mediation effect of adolescent body dissatisfaction between BMI and adolescent self-esteem would be stronger for adolescents who perceived their mothers to exhibit higher dissatisfaction towards their daughters’ bodies.
Methods: Participants were 100 adolescent girls (Mage = 14.35 years, SD = 2.29) and their mothers (Mage = 44.03 years, SD = 7.23). The daughters reported their own body dissatisfaction (Garner et al., 1983) and self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965). To capture maternal judgement of adolescents’ body, the daughters also reported the extent to which their mothers were dissatisfied with their (adolescent) body (Garner et al., 1983). All scales had adequate reliability.
Results: We examined the hypothesis that adolescent body dissatisfaction mediates the effect of adolescent body mass index percentile (BMI) on adolescent self-esteem. The unstandardized path coefficients and standard errors are presented in Figure 1. Significance of the indirect effects was examined using bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals (Nbootstraps = 5000). Results showed that the effect of adolescent BMI percent on self-esteem was mediated by the teens’ body dissatisfaction (CI95% = .001 to .006). Further, we investigated if perceived maternal dissatisfaction with adolescent body (PMDAB) moderated this mediation relationship. Results indicated that the interaction of teen BMI percent and PMDAB was significant (Figure 2). When mothers were perceived as highly dissatisfied with their daughters’ bodies, adolescents exhibited higher levels of body dissatisfaction, regardless of BMI. When mothers were perceived as less dissatisfied with their daughters’ bodies, adolescents exhibited higher levels of body dissatisfaction as their BMI increased. Furthermore, it was found that the mediating effect of adolescents’ body dissatisfaction between BMI and self-esteem was weaker and nonsignificant at high PMDAB (CI95% = -.004 to .004), compared to low PMDAB (CI95% = .003 to .009).
Discussion: These results highlight the importance of body dissatisfaction and the role of perceived criticism from others on body image and self-esteem among adolescent girls. Clinically, these findings are relevant in identifying areas of intervention for clinicians working with adolescents with self-esteem and body image disturbance. Helping a mother avoid criticism of her daughter’s body while effectively and convincingly communicating positive messages about her daughter may improve her daughter’s body satisfaction and self-esteem.

Authors

• Aidan Schmitt, Eastern Michigan University
  Presenting Author

• Ellen Hart, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Chong Man Chow, Eastern Michigan University
  Non-Presenting Author