Poster #60 - The Relational Effects of Body Image Discrepancy on Peer Relations and Positive Mother-Child Relationships

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

In pre-adolescence, 56% of young boys and 44.3% of young girls report being unsatisfied with their weight (Ter-Bogt et el., 2006). Body image discrepancy is described as the difference between a child’s ideal weight and their reported weight. According to previous literature, body image discrepancy is associated with a host of negative outcomes for pre-adolescent children, including trouble with peer relationships (Michael et al., 2013; Ter-Bogt et al., 2006). Alternatively, forming positive family relationships, which include increased closeness with parents, serves as a protective factor against child body dissatisfaction (Littleton & Ollendick, 2003). The goal of the current study was to examine if positive mother-child relationships buffer the negative association between preadolescent body image discrepancy and negative peer relationships. Two hypotheses were examined: 1) preadolescent reported body image discrepancy will be negatively related to teacher reported quality of peer relationships; 2) the quality of mother-child relationship reported by mothers will moderate the relation between body image discrepancy and peer relationship quality. The current study utilized the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) data set. The NICHD SECCYD is a longitudinal investigation of 1,364 children, followed from birth to age 15, and their families and schools (N=1,364). For the current study, we focus on data collected from children, their mothers, and their teachers in 6th grade (n = 1,061; M age= 11.95, SD= 0.34). The sample demographics consist of 51.7 % male, 80.4% White, 12.9% African American, 1.6% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, and 4.7% other. Over half (54.2 %) of mothers reported having received some college, 31.2% less than or up to grade 12, and 14.6% postgraduate. The current study measured the children’s relationship with their mother using the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Pianta, 1992), children’s body image discrepancy was measured with the Child’s Eating Habits and Body Self Image questionnaire (Harter, 1998), and child-peer relationships were assessed with the Peer Network Characteristics questionnaire (Olivieri & Reiss, 1987). Correlations were run to examine potential covariates related to the study variables. These analyses revealed significant relations between child sex, maternal education, socioeconomic status (free/reduced lunch), and pubertal status. To test the hypothesized relations, a step-wise linear regression analysis was run in which the control variables were entered into the first step, body image discrepancy and positive mother-child relationship were entered into the second step, and finally an interaction term between body image discrepancy and mother-child relationship was entered into the third step as predictors of peer relationship quality. The moderation hypothesis was supported (β = .17, p = .02). These data support the notion that there is an association between body image discrepancy, peer relations, and positive mother-child relations. The specific relations between these variables and implications of the current study will be discussed.

Authors

• Ashlyn Revere, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Priscilla Goble, Texas State University

• Pond Ezra, University of Maryland - College Park