Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of perception regarding mothers' eating attitudes and behaviors, peers' eating attitudes and behaviors, pressure to be thin from mothers and peers, and self objectification in predicting disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. This study utilized a multi-systemic framework to better understand those undergraduate women who experience maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors and body dissatisfaction without meeting DSM-IV-TR (2000) diagnostic criteria for a full syndrome eating disorder. Method. Participants were a convenience sample of 185 college women from a private university in Southern California. Each participant completed a packet of surveys that contained self-report items regarding their eating attitudes and behaviors and level of body dissatisfaction, as well as perceptions of themselves, their mothers, and peers. Result. Two standard multiple regressions revealed perception of mothers' eating attitudes and behaviors, perception of peers' eating attitudes and behaviors, perceived pressure to be thin from mother and peers, and self-objectification predicted 45% of the variability in body dissatisfaction and 43% of the variability in disordered eating. Although the overall models were significant ( p <.001), t tests revealed that only two predictor variables contributed to predicting body dissatisfaction in a statistically significant way ( p < .001), while three of the predictor variables significantly contributed to predicting disordered eating (p < .01). Discussion. The findings of the study support the main hypotheses. As expected, those women who: (1) perceive high levels of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in their mothers and peers; (2) experience pressure to be thin from their mothers and peers; and (3) perceive their own body as an object (i.e., self-objectification) experience greater levels of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. Individual predictors were explored and it was hypothesized that they influence body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in different ways (e.g., internal versus external processes). Clinical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.