title: The body perfect ideal and eating regulation goals: investigating the role of adolescents' identity styles.
abstract: Adolescents are exposed to images depicting the thin or muscular ideal almost on a daily basis. When the body perfect ideal is adopted, adolescents are at increased risk for developing unhealthy and disordered eating behaviors. The aim of the current 3-wave longitudinal study among adolescents (N = 418; 54% girls) was to investigate whether different styles of identity exploration (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant) are associated differentially with changes in adoption of the body perfect ideal, which, in turn, would relate to changes in appearance-focused and health-focused eating regulation. Results indicated that the information-oriented style predicted decreases and the normative style predicted increases in adoption of the body perfect ideal. In turn, adoption of the body perfect ideal predicted significant increases in appearance-focused eating regulation but not in health-focused eating regulation. A diffuse-avoidant style was unrelated to changes in adoption of the body perfect, yet directly predicted decreases in health-focused eating regulation. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium, joke.verstuyf@UGent.be.
authors.forename: Joke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verstuyf
authors.forename: Stijn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Petegem
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vansteenkiste
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soenens
authors.forename: Liesbet
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D002648:Child; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values