Development of Eating Problems in Adolescent Girls: A Longitudinal Study

Examined the emergence of eating problems in adolescent girls as a function of pubertal growth, body image, personality development, and family relationships. 193 White females and their mothers were seen in middle-school years ( M age = 13.93 years) and 2 years later. Results showed that girls who...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 1989-01, Vol.25 (1), p.70-79
Main Authors: Attie, Ilana, Brooks-Gunn, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Body Image
Children & youth
Eating Disorders
Family Relations
Followup Studies
Human
Medical sciences
Mother Child Relations
Personality Development
Physical Maturity
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social research
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Examined the emergence of eating problems in adolescent girls as a function of pubertal growth, body image, personality development, and family relationships. 193 White females and their mothers were seen in middle-school years ( M age = 13.93 years) and 2 years later. Results showed that girls who early in adolescence felt most negatively about their bodies were more likely to develop eating problems (on EAT -26) 2 years later. Concurrently, Time 1 eating problems were associated with body fat, grade, negative body image, and psychopathology, but not family relationships. At Time 2, adolescent body image and internalizing dimensions of psychopathology predicted problem-eating scores, as did maternal body image and depression. Findings are discussed in terms of adolescent patterns of adaptation, developmental psychopathology, and the study's relevance for understanding clinical eating disorders.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.25.1.70