Normative body dissatisfaction and eating psychopathology in teenage girls: the impact of inflexible eating rules.

PURPOSE

Adolescence has been considered a critical time for the development of body image-related difficulties and disordered eating behaviours, especially in females. Although adherence to eating rules has been linked to disordered eating, literature has not yet explored how the inflexible subscription to those rules impacts on eating psychopathology. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore whether inflexible eating impacts on the relationships between weight and body image-related variables, and disordered eating.

METHODS

Participated in this study are 497 female adolescents from the community, aged between 14 and 18 years old, who completed self-report measures.

RESULTS

Results revealed that the majority of the participants were dissatisfied with their weight and body shape. Moreover, 6.64 % of the participants demonstrated severe eating psychopathology. A path analysis revealed that BMI, body dissatisfaction and social comparisons based on physical appearance impact on disordered eating behaviours, through the mechanism of inflexible adherence to eating rules. This model explained 52 % of eating psychopathology's variance.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the relevance of body image-related difficulties in adolescence and additionally they emphasise the importance of promoting more flexible attitudes towards eating in prevention and intervention programmes with female adolescents.