title: The direct effect of thin ideal focused adult television on young girls' ideal body figure.
abstract: The present study tested the direct effect of watching thin-ideal focused television aimed at (young) adults on body dissatisfaction in preadolescent girls (9-12 years old). A within-subject design was used in which the girls (N=60) were tested three times. They watched three movie clips in random order that were either focused explicitly (thin-ideal program) or indirectly (soap opera) on the thin ideal or were neutral in content. Afterwards, they filled out questionnaires concerning their body dissatisfaction. Only older preadolescent girls (11-12 years old) showed greater body dissatisfaction after watching the thin-ideal focused television clip than after watching the neutral television clip. After watching thin-ideal focused television, they desired a thinner body figure than after watching neutral television. The findings imply that watching (adult) thin-ideal television directly affects the ideal body figure in older preadolescent girls.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. d.anschutz@pwo.ru.nl
authors.forename: Doeschka J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Anschutz
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spruijt-Metz
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Strien
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D012951:Socialization; D013690:Television; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult