Examined weight preoccupation among 55 elite women swimmers from 5 universities. Results showed that 10.9% of respondents could be characterized as "weight preoccupied," a percentage comparable to general population of college women. Athletes reported using significantly more benign than punitive self-control strategies, suggesting for them,…

Objective: Thin body preoccupation and social pressure to be thin (TBPSP) in adolescence are risk factors for the development of full and partial bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. This study examined precursors of these potent risk factors. Method: A prospective study followed 134 children from birth to 11.0 years and their parents.…

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…

Findings indicated that girls suffered from poor body image and dissatisfaction with weight more often than boys did. Findings also supported the notion of an interaction between context and individual. Sex differences were differentially moderated by the communities in which the adolescents lived. (RH)

Possible selves typically are conceptualized as resources that facilitate identity development and that motivate and sustain self-change. The concept of possible selves, however, generally has not been extended to examining the aftermath of personal transformation. In this article I explore the self and social processes that operate during efforts…

This paper sets out to examine the impacts of schooling and health knowledge on the level of obesity in Taiwan. The results obtained from a sample of Taiwanese females support the hypothesis of Grossman that schooling has a direct positive effect on health by reducing the likelihood of a person being obese. The awareness of obesity-disease…

Describes how metaphors can be used in a weight control approach to: (1) uncover underlying feelings; (2) reveal hidden solutions; (3) create an aversion to undesirable intakes; (4) provide the client with a thin self-concept; and (5) increase compliance. Provides examples to demonstrate these uses. (Author/RC)

Investigates weight gain among 61 female first-year college students weighed in their first month at college and 6 months later. The majority remained the same weight. Favorable body image was related to weight loss for those who lost weight, but no other characteristics studied were related to weight change. (SLD)

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…

Objective: The aims of the study were to examine weight concerns, dieting and eating behaviours in a group of Israeli-Arab schoolgirls as compared with Israeli-Jewish schoolgirls, as well as to investigate the reliability of the Arabic (Palestinian) version of the eating disorder inventory-2 (EDI-2). Method: The sample consisted of 2548 Israeli…

Adolescent boys (n = 269) were assessed for levels of several risky behaviors related to the pursuit of muscularity, including substance use (anabolic steroids, prohormones, and ephedrine) dieting to gain weight, and symptoms of muscle dysmorphia (MD). The association between these behaviors and a variety of putative biological, psychological, and…

The aims of this paper are (a) to investigate how adolescents perceive and represent the body form with respect to being fat or thin, and (b) to describe the process of how they constructed the social representations for these latter two body conditions. The data were collected by means of individual and focus group interviews with adolescent…

Consequences of body weight were explored in sample of women and men. Average weight subjects showed preference for thin women but not for thin men; women are more negatively affected by body size in opposite-sex relationships; being overweight negatively affected self-attitudes of all subjects, but particularly those of women; and women are…

This longitudinal study examined peer teasing and parent criticism as mediators of the relationship between girls' weight status and self-concept. Findings indicated that at both ages 5 and 7, overweight girls reported lower self-concept. Peer weight-related teasing and parent criticism mediated relationship between weight status and self-concept…

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…