Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.
Appetite. 2024 Jul 1;198:107321. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107321. Epub 2024 Mar 28.
Body dissatisfaction and eating behaviors are disproportionately elevated amongst adolescent girls. Family relationships represent a context in which adolescent girls' body image issues emerge. Thus, we integrated attachment and confirmation theories to examine whether weight related supportive messages (i.e., acceptance and challenge) mediated the relationship between attachment style (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) and body image outcomes (i.e., body dissatisfaction (BD), restrained eating (RE), and disordered eating (DE)). Acceptance refers to weight related support that is characterized by warmth and accepting messages; challenge refers to weight related support that is characterized by instrumental assistance and problem-solving messages. A sample of 106 adolescent girls, ages 11 to 21, completed self-report measures on attachment (Relationship Structures Questionnaire), acceptance and challenge (weight related Parental Behavior Questionnaire), body dissatisfaction (Eating Disorders Inventory), and eating behaviors (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire; Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale). Attachment anxiety directly related to all body image outcomes, whereas attachment avoidance only directly related to RE. Attachment avoidance only related to BD and DE indirectly through perceived acceptance. Those with high anxiety endorsed lower perceived challenge, whereas avoidant individuals endorsed lower perceived acceptance and challenge. We concluded that attachment dimension characteristics to be either hyperactivated regarding relationships (i.e., anxiety), or deactivated and distant (i.e., avoidance), are associated with how individuals perceive support, and in turn, are related to body image and eating behavior outcomes. Further, we clarify the differential roles of acceptance and challenge. Although both supportive, acceptance encompasses a layer of warmth that is more meaningful in body image, particularly for avoidantly attached individuals. By integrating qualities of attachment and supportive weight communication, we reveal that potential pathways of attachment to body image and eating behaviors.
身体不满和饮食行为在少女中不成比例地升高。家庭关系代表了少女身体形象问题出现的背景。因此，我们整合了依恋和确认理论，以检验与体重相关的支持性信息（即接受和挑战）是否在依恋风格（即焦虑和回避）与身体形象结果（即身体不满（BD）、抑制性进食（RE）和饮食失调（DE））之间起中介作用。接受是指以温暖和接受信息为特征的与体重相关的支持；挑战是指以工具性帮助和解决问题信息为特征的与体重相关的支持。一项针对 106 名 11 至 21 岁少女的样本，完成了关于依恋（关系结构问卷）、接受和挑战（与体重相关的父母行为问卷）、身体不满（饮食障碍问卷）和饮食行为（荷兰饮食行为问卷；饮食障碍诊断量表）的自我报告测量。依恋焦虑与所有身体形象结果直接相关，而依恋回避仅与 RE 直接相关。依恋回避仅通过感知接受与 BD 和 DE 间接相关。那些焦虑程度较高的人认为感知挑战较低，而回避型的人则认为感知接受和挑战较低。我们得出的结论是，关于人际关系的过度激活（即焦虑）或失活和疏远（即回避）的依恋维度特征与个人如何感知支持有关，进而与身体形象和饮食行为结果有关。此外，我们澄清了接受和挑战的差异作用。虽然两者都是支持性的，但接受包括一层更有意义的温暖，尤其是对回避依恋的个体而言。通过整合依恋和支持性体重沟通的品质，我们揭示了依恋与身体形象和饮食行为的潜在途径。
