Thin ideal internalization in Mexican girls: a test of the sociocultural model of eating disorders.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the influence of thin ideal internalization on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Mexican girls.


METHODS
We sampled 137 public school girls aged 12-15 from a small city in Mexico. Participants were given Spanish versions of the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance scale, two measures of body dissatisfaction, the eating attitudes test, and the attitudinal familism scale.


RESULTS
Thin ideal internalization mediated the relationship between thin ideal awareness and body dissatisfaction, and the relationship between thin ideal awareness and eating disorder symptoms. Attitudinal familism was negatively correlated with thin ideal internalization for girls outside of the normal weight range.


CONCLUSIONS
Mexican girls are at risk of eating disorder symptoms, and there is support for the sociocultural model of disordered eating in this population. Hispanic family values may mark protection from thin ideal internalization in Mexican girls outside of the normal weight range.
Austin
Julia L
JL
Psychology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Smith
Jane Ellen
JE
D000293:Adolescent; D001364:Awareness; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008800:Mexico; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology