title: Associations between sociocultural pressures to be thin, body distress, and eating disorder symptomatology among Chilean adolescent girls.
abstract: This study explored the relationships between perceived sociocultural pressure to fulfill the thin beauty ideal, body distress, and the presence of eating disorder symptoms. Participants were 437 Chilean adolescent girls from Arica, northern Chile, aged 13-18. Results showed significant associations between perceived pressure from social agents to be thin and the presence of disrupted eating attitudes and behavior. The perceived influence of advertising, verbal messages and social situations related to eating and dieting emerged as the strongest predictors of eating disorders symptoms. Influence of advertising was also the strongest predictor of body image distress. Age differences emerged in perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin, with older participants reporting higher sociocultural pressure to fulfill the slender beauty ideal. This paper provides information about body distress and associated disturbances, a phenomenon which has seldom been studied in non-Western countries, but which has important health implications.
authors.affiliation: University of Tarapacá, Department of Philosophy and Psychology, Avenida 18 de septiembre, Arica, Chile. acaqueo@uta.cl
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caqueo-Urízar
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrer-García
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Maldonado
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peñaloza
authors.forename: Yasna
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cuadros-Sosa
authors.forename: Ma José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gálvez-Madrid
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001828:Body Image; D001938:Brazil; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003625:Data Collection; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics; D012056:Reinforcement, Social; D012945:Social Values; D012951:Socialization; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology*