title: Ethnic identity, thin-ideal internalization, and eating pathology in ethnically diverse college women.
abstract: Although much research suggests that ethnic identity is positively correlated with psychological health for ethnic minority women, research examining ethnic identity's relationships to thin-ideal internalization, weight concerns, and eating concerns is sparse. Consequently, this study examined these relationships in European American, African American, Latina, and Asian American college women (N=816). As expected, univariate analyses of variance indicated that European American women scored lowest on ethnic identity and highest on eating and weight concerns, whereas African American women scored lowest on thin-ideal internalization. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that ethnic identity was negatively associated with eating and weight concerns, while body mass index and thin-ideal internalization were positively associated. Ethnic identity moderated the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and eating concerns such that the relationship was stronger for participants with lower ethnic identity. These results suggest ethnic identity may be a direct or interactive protective factor against eating concerns in ethnically diverse college women.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
authors: Liya M
authors: LM
authors: Rakhkovskaya
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, United States. Electronic address: cortney.warren@unlv.edu.
authors: Cortney S
authors: CS
authors: Warren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009505:Nevada / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eating concerns; Ethnic identity; Ethnicity; Thin-ideal internalization; Weight concerns