The prospective relationship between initial rumination and subsequent bulimic symptoms, and vice versa, was examined, and possible mediators were tested in a community sample of 191 adolescent girls (M age = 14.5) at 3 different assessment time points. Path analyses indicated that Time 1 rumination predicted Time 3 bulimic symptoms, and vice…

Background: Whereas much attention has been focused on adolescent risk behaviors such as substance use, much less has been devoted to self-injury in the general adolescent population. Purpose: This study had two purposes: (1) describe the prevalence of self-injury among early adolescents in the general middle school population, and (2) identify…

Empirical support for the association between childhood overweight and low self-esteem is equivocal. The present study investigated how weight, ethnicity, body esteem, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes/behaviors contribute to global and dimensional self-esteem in a non-clinical sample of Hispanic- and Anglo-American grade 3-6…

This study examined rates, correlates and an interpersonal model of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among a sample of 508 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Questionnaires assessing NSSI, related health-risk behaviors, and relationships with parents were administered two times over an 11-month period. Overall, 7.5% reported engaging in NSSI within…

The relationships among communication, modeling, body image dissatisfaction, and maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors in preadolescent girls were investigated in a cross-sectional study of 69 girls in fourth through sixth grade and their mothers. Participants completed questionnaires assessing familial and peer influences, body image…

Peer influence has been found to be correlated with a host of harmful health behaviors. However, little research has been conducted investigating the relationship between peer influence and disordered eating. The present study surveyed 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade girls and boys using the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and Inventory of Peer…

The prevalence of most adult psychiatric disorders varies across racial/ethnic groups and has important implications for prevention and intervention efforts. Research on racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and disorders in adolescents has been less consistent or generally lacking. The current…

Burgeoning research on the adolescent (e.g., middle-school) years suggests that this is a particularly vulnerable period for the development of maladaptive eating patterns. Prior research has established a link between perceptions of maternal parenting practices and adolescent onset of problematic eating behaviors. The authors hypothesized that…

To understand whether difficulties in emotional functioning distinguish between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, a set of emotion regulation (i.e., negative emotion, emotional awareness, coping), demographic (i.e., age), and physical (i.e., BMI (Body Mass Index)) factors were assessed in 234 early adolescent girls, grades six to eight.…