A test of the structural model of initiation of dieting among adolescent girls.
This article reports alternative findings from a pilot study to those presented recently (Strong GF, Huon KG. J. Psychosom. Res., 1998; 44:315-326) in regard to the proposed model of sociopsychological processes involved in the initiation of dieting among young adolescent girls. One hundred thirteen female high school pupils completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed dieting status, dietary restraint, autonomous functioning, skill-related functioning, social influence, and family functioning. The results indicate that family functioning predicts dietary restraint but that this effect is mediated by peer influence to diet. Furthermore, family functioning was associated with autonomous functioning, suggesting that this relationship should be pursued in a future test of the model. This pattern of results is different from an earlier test of the model, which indicated only a parental influence on dieting status. The results confirm that peer influences should be retained as a causal factor in a reformulated structural model.
Lattimore
P J
PJ
Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. p.j.lattimore@uclan.ac.uk
Butterworth
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016487:Parenting; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires