Evaluating attitudes about aging and body comparison as moderators of the relationship between menopausal status and disordered eating and body image concerns among middle-aged women.

OBJECTIVE

Evidence suggests the menopausal period may be a unique window of vulnerability for the development or exacerbation of eating disorder symptoms among middle-aged women; however, it is unclear who is most at risk during this period. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether appearance-related aging concerns and body comparison, two sociocultural factors, moderated the association between menopausal status and disordered eating behaviors and body image concerns among middle-aged women.

METHOD

Participants (N = 310) completed an online survey about their menopausal status, aging concerns, body comparison, disordered eating, and body image concerns.

RESULTS

Tests of moderator models revealed that at low levels of aging concerns, peri-menopausal women reported greater dietary restraint than pre-menopausal or post-menopausal women. Additionally, among women with high scores for body comparison, post-menopausal women reported significantly more dietary restraint than either pre- or peri-menopausal women.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that the effects of menopause on dietary restraint may be stronger for some women than others.