Fear of fat and restrained eating: negative body talk between female friends as a moderator.

PURPOSE: This study examined whether engagement in negative body talk would moderate the association between fear of fat and restrained eating among female friend dyads. METHODS: Female friends (Npairs = 130) were recruited from a Midwestern university in the United States. The dyadic data were examined with an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). RESULTS: Results showed that women's fear of fat was significantly related to their own restrained eating behaviors. In contrast, women's fear of fat was not significantly related to their friends' restrained eating behaviors. Negative body talk was significantly related to restrained eating, as reported by both friends. The interaction between negative body talk and women's own fear of fat was found to be significant. Although women with less fear of fat showed less restrained eating, engaging in more negative body talk with a friend increased their engagement in restrained eating. Women with more fear of fat engaged in more restrained eating, regardless of their engagement in negative body talk. CONCLUSION: Given the detrimental role of body talk between fear of fat and restrained eating, interventions may target reducing body talk among young women. NO LEVEL OF EVIDENCE FOR: Basic science, Animal study, Cadaver study, and Experimental study articles.

The reasoned/reactive model: A new approach to examining eating decisions among female college dieters and nondieters.

Female college students are prone to unhealthy eating patterns that can impact long-term health. This study examined female students' healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors with three decision-making models. Specifically, the theory of reasoned action, prototype/willingness model, and new reasoned/reactive model were compared to determine how reasoned (logical) and reactive (impulsive) factors relate to dietary decisions. Females (N=583, Mage=20.89years) completed measures on reasoned cognitions about foods (attitudes, subjective norms, nutrition knowledge, intentions to eat foods), reactive cognitions about foods (prototypes, affect, willingness to eat foods), dieting, and food consumption. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the new reasoned/reactive model to be the preeminent model for examining eating behaviors. This model showed that attitudes were related to intentions and willingness to eat healthy and unhealthy foods. Affect was related to willingness to eat healthy and unhealthy foods, whereas nutrition knowledge was related to intentions and willingness to eat healthy foods only. Intentions and willingness were related to healthy and unhealthy food consumption. Dieting status played a moderating role in the model and revealed mean-level differences between dieters and nondieters. This study highlights the importance of specific factors in relation to female students' eating decisions and unveils a comprehensive model for examining health behaviors.

Retrospective reports of parental feeding practices and emotional eating in adulthood: The role of food preoccupation.

The current study examined the role of food preoccupation as a potential mediator of the associations between parental feeding behaviors during childhood (i.e., restriction for weight, restriction for health, emotion regulation) and emotional eating in adulthood. Participants (N = 97, Mage = 20.3 years) recalled their parents' feeding behaviors during early and middle childhood and reported on current experiences of food preoccupation and emotional eating. Findings revealed that recalled parental feeding behaviors (restriction for weight, restriction for health, emotion regulation) and food preoccupation were positively associated with later emotional eating (correlations ranged from 0.21 to 0.55). In addition, recalled restriction for weight and emotion regulation feeding were positively associated with food preoccupation, r = 0.23 and 0.38, respectively. Further, food preoccupation mediated the association between emotion regulation feeding and later emotional eating (CI95% = 0.10 to 0.44). These findings indicate that parental feeding practices in childhood are related to food preoccupation, and that food preoccupation mediates the association between emotion regulation feeding in childhood and emotional eating in adulthood.

Adolescent Attachment Trajectories with Mothers and Fathers: The Importance of Parent-Child Relationship Experiences and Gender.

This longitudinal study investigated how attachment with mothers and fathers changes during adolescence, and how gender and parent-child relationship experiences are associated with attachment trajectories. The relative importance of specific positive and negative relationship experiences on attachment trajectories was also examined. An initial sample of 223 adolescents reported on relationship experiences and attachment avoidance and anxiety with mothers and fathers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 (final N=110; Mage=11.90 years at onset, SD=.43). Mothers and fathers reported on relationship experiences with adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that security with parents increased during adolescence. Positive relationship experiences (companionship, satisfaction, approval, support) predicted increases in security and negative experiences (pressure, criticism) predicted decreases in security. Females reported less avoidance than males.

Romantic relationships and psychological distress among adolescents: Moderating role of friendship closeness.

BACKGROUND: The formation of romantic relationships and friendships in adolescence is a defining milestone in the progression toward social maturity. Thus, examining adolescents' friendship and romantic experiences serves a vital role in understanding their psychological adjustment. AIMS: The main purposes of the current study were to examine (a) whether romantic involvement, romantic security, and friendship closeness were independently predictive of late adolescents' depression and loneliness, and (b) whether friendship closeness would moderate the negative effects of adolescents' lower degrees of romantic involvement and romantic security on depression and loneliness. METHOD: Data came from 12th grade adolescents (N = 110, 53 females) as well as their parents and a same-sex best friend. Adolescents reported on their romantic involvement, romantic security, and psychological distress. Parent reports of adolescents' depressive symptoms and friend reports of friendship closeness were also included. RESULTS: Higher degrees of romantic involvement and friendship closeness were related to lower degrees of loneliness. Higher degrees of romantic security were related to lower degrees of depression and loneliness. The effect of romantic involvement on depression and loneliness was moderated by friendship closeness. Also, the effect of romantic security on loneliness was moderated by friendship closeness. CONCLUSION: Future research should focus on the interactive roles that friendships and romantic relationships play in the emergence of psychopathology during adolescence.

The mediating role of interpersonal competence between adolescents' empathy and friendship quality: a dyadic approach.

The current study examined the effect of empathy on friendship quality in the context of dyadic same-sex friendships, and how such an effect might be mediated by interpersonal competence. A special version of the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was used to examine this hypothesis in 146 same-sex friend dyads in 10th grade. Results showed that empathy was positively related to intimacy and conflict management competences. Also, adolescents higher in intimacy and conflict management competences had more friendship closeness and less discord, respectively, as perceived by both members. Consistent with our hypothesis, the relationship between empathy and self- and friend-reports of friendship closeness and discord were mediated by adolescents' intimacy and conflict management competence, respectively. These findings emphasize the importance of empathy and interpersonal competence in adolescent friendships, and of considering the interdependence of these constructs in friend dyads.