Investigated relationship of body image perception and weight status to recent change in weight status of adolescent females. Nonobese, overweight, and obese girls (N=90) aged 13 through 17 completed Body-Cathexis Scale and self-report recent change in weight status and demographic questionnaire. Results revealed significant positive correlation…

Examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) of adolescents and their perceived-weight status and self-concept. Results based on 17,318 females and 15,878 males indicate that substantial numbers of teenage females perceive themselves as overweight when BMI values suggest they are not. Males reported reasonably accurate weight…

Examines the effects and interactions of gender, pubertal status, and body weight on the self-concept of young adolescent Australian students. The mean self-concept score was significantly related to students' standard body weight, and there was an interaction between gender and puberty, with postpubertal males having the highest and…

Examines the hypothesis that early adolescent girls (N=175) with more negative weight-related body images would report higher levels of depressive symptoms. Results indicate that the more subjective and personal measures of weight-related body image discontent (weight dissatisfaction and weight concerns) were associated with increased depressive…

Compared self-concept of obese (N=28) and nonobese (N=58) female students in a junior nursing class. Found that obese students and students who considered themselves to be obese had lower self-esteem than did nonobese students. Revealed no relationships with regard to age of onset of obesity, and no significant relationships between social class…

Studied adolescent girls who were eating-disordered (N=41), athletes (N=87), or students (N=120) to determine their menstrual, dieting, and exercise patterns and their self-images. Found that eating-disordered subjects had extremely low scores on emotional tone and social relationships, suggesting that these dimensions may distinguish the…

Body build stereotypes of average-weight and heavy females, ages 6, 15, and 19, were studied through adjective checklists and drawings of endomorphs, ectomorphs, and mesomorphs. Mesomorph drawings were favored and the endomorphs least liked. But heavy subjects rejected for themselves behavioral stereotypes previously applied to the endomorph…

This study examined the relationship between reading women's fashion magazines and the use of pathogenic dieting methods among 502 high school females. Reading these magazines does influence a female's decision to restrict calories or take diet pills. Further research is needed to examine factors that are antecedent to reading the magazines to…