An International Study of Correlates of Women's Positive Body Image.

Positive body image (PBI) has received attention in the recent research literature. Despite this, its role in daily functioning in different cultural contexts, particularly its potential relationship with academic outcomes, is still lacking. This study aimed to offer an international perspective on the association between PBI and body mass index (BMI), perceived academic achievement, and educational aspirations, as well as the mediating role of self-esteem. A cross-national study was conducted in eight European countries with a total of 2653 female university students. Participants completed an online survey measuring PBI (conceptualized as body appreciation), self-esteem, perceived academic achievement and aspirations, and body mass index (BMI). Results revealed differences in PBI between countries (low magnitude). PBI correlated negatively with BMI in all national groups (low-to-moderate magnitude). Mediation analysis showed that self-esteem mediated the association between PBI and academic variables. Findings from this study suggest that building students' self-esteem and PBI can be a suitable way to boost academic success.

Psychological need frustration as a transdiagnostic process in associations of self-critical perfectionism with depressive symptoms and eating pathology.

OBJECTIVE: The identification of transdiagnostic risk factors and processes that explain the comorbidity between depressive symptoms and eating disorder symptoms is critical. We examined the mediating role of the frustration of adolescents' psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the association between self-critical perfectionism, depressive symptoms and eating disorder symptoms. METHOD: A cross-sectional study (N = 248; 58% female, mean age = 14 years) and a two-wave longitudinal study (N = 608; 59% female; mean age = 16 years) were conducted. RESULTS: At the level of inter-individual differences and intra-individual change, self-critical perfectionism was a robust predictor of both symptoms. After introducing need frustration as an underlying mechanism, the relation between self-critical perfectionism and the two types of symptoms, as well as the relation between the symptoms themselves, decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Need frustration represents a transdiagnostic vulnerability process that helps to explain why self-critical perfectionism relates to depressive symptoms and eating disorder symptoms.

The role of intergenerational similarity and parenting in adolescent self-criticism: An actor-partner interdependence model.

Research investigating the development of adolescent self-criticism has typically focused on the role of either parental self-criticism or parenting. This study used an actor-partner interdependence model to examine an integrated theoretical model in which achievement-oriented psychological control has an intervening role in the relation between parental and adolescent self-criticism. Additionally, the relative contribution of both parents and the moderating role of adolescent gender were examined. Participants were 284 adolescents (M = 14 years, range = 12-16 years) and their parents (M = 46 years, range = 32-63 years). Results showed that only maternal self-criticism was directly related to adolescent self-criticism. However, both parents' achievement-oriented psychological control had an intervening role in the relation between parent and adolescent self-criticism in both boys and girls. Moreover, one parent's achievement-oriented psychological control was not predicted by the self-criticism of the other parent.

The Impeding Role of Self-Critical Perfectionism on Therapeutic Alliance During Treatment and Eating Disorder Symptoms at Follow-up in Patients with an Eating Disorder.

This study examines the impeding role of self-critical perfectionism at onset of treatment on therapeutic alliance during treatment and eating disorder symptoms at follow-up in patients with an eating disorder. Participants were 53 female patients with a mean age of 21.1 years treated for an eating disorder in a specialized inpatient treatment unit. Self-critical perfectionism was assessed at admission, therapeutic alliance was assessed during treatment (after three months of treatment), and eating disorder symptoms were assessed at admission, after three months and one year later. Self-critical perfectionism negatively related to treatment alliance with the therapist. Although self-critical perfectionism was not directly predictive of subsequent changes in eating disorder symptoms, it was indirectly related to less reduction in body dissatisfaction through the therapeutic alliance. These results point to the importance of self-critical perfectionism in the therapeutic alliance and in changes in body image problems. Treatment implications are discussed.

Longitudinal association between child stress and lifestyle.

OBJECTIVE: Psychosocial stress has been linked with an unhealthy lifestyle but the relation's direction remains unclear. Does stress induce sleeping problems, comfort food consumption, and lower physical activity, or do these unhealthy lifestyle factors enhance stress? This study examined the bidirectional stress-lifestyle relation in children. METHOD: The relation between stress and lifestyle was examined over 2 years in 312 Belgian children 5-12 years old as part of the Children's Body Composition and Stress study. Stress-related aspects were measured by questionnaires concerning negative events, negative emotions, and behavioral problems. The following lifestyle factors were assessed: physical activity (by accelerometers), sleep duration, food consumption (sweet food, fatty food, snacks, fruits and vegetables), and eating behavior (emotional, external, restrained). Bidirectional relations were examined with cross-lagged analyses. RESULTS: Certain stress aspects increased physical activity, sweet food consumption, emotional eating, restrained eating, and external eating (ßs = .140-.319). All relations were moderated by sex and age: Dietary effects were mainly in the oldest children and girls; stress increased physical activity in the youngest, whereas it tended to decrease physical activity in the oldest. One reversed direction effect was found: Maladaptive eating behaviors increased anxiety feelings. CONCLUSIONS: Relations were mainly unidirectional: Stress influenced children's lifestyle. Stress stimulated eating in the absence of hunger, which could facilitate overweight. Consequently, families should realize that stress may influence children's diet, and problem-solving coping skills should be acquired. In contrast to recent findings, stress might also stimulate physical activity in the youngest as positive stress coping style.

Cross-lagged associations between children's stress and adiposity: the Children's Body Composition and Stress study.

OBJECTIVE: The public health threats stress and adiposity have previously been associated with each other. Longitudinal studies are needed to reveal whether this association is bidirectional and the moderating factors. METHODS: In the longitudinal Children's Body Composition and Stress study, 316 children (aged 5-12 years) had measures of stress (questionnaires concerning negative life events, problem behavior, and emotions) and adiposity (body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, and fat percentage) in three waves at 1-year intervals. The bidirectionality of the association between stress and adiposity was examined using cross-lagged analyses. We tested moderation by cortisol and life-style (physical activity, screen time, food consumption, eating behavior and sleep duration). RESULTS: Adiposity (body mass index: ß = 0.48 and fat percentage: ß = 0.18; p < .001) were associated with subsequent increased stress levels, but stress was not directly related to subsequent increases in adiposity indices. Cortisol and life-style factors displayed a moderating effect on the association between stress and adiposity. Stress was positively associated with adiposity in children with high cortisol awakening patterns (ß = 0.204; p = .020) and high sweet food consumption (ß = 0.190; p = .031), whereas stress was associated with lower adiposity in the most active children (ß = -0.163; p = .022). CONCLUSIONS: Stress is associated with the development of children's adiposity, but the effects depend on cortisol levels and life-style factors. This creates new perspectives for multifactorial obesity prevention programs. Our results also highlight the adverse effect of an unhealthy body composition on children's psychological well-being.

In double trouble for eating pathology? An experimental study on the combined role of perfectionism and body dissatisfaction.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A number of correlational studies suggest that the combined presence of perfectionism and body dissatisfaction creates elevated risk for the development of eating disorder pathology. The aim of this study was to examine the causal role of this combination of risk factors for eating pathology. METHOD: We conducted an experimental study in a sample of female college students (N = 47). Specifically, we performed an experimental manipulation of perfectionism and examined whether this manipulation would interact with body dissatisfaction to predict eating disorder symptoms. RESULTS: We found that the effect of the experimental manipulation was moderated by body dissatisfaction, such that women in the perfectionism condition and scoring high on body dissatisfaction exhibited the highest levels of eating disorder symptoms. LIMITATIONS: The sample was rather small (resulting in limited statistical power) and the participants were predominantly healthy and well-adjusted women, which may limit the generalizability and interpretation of our findings. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the combination of perfectionism and body dissatisfaction is particularly detrimental and predictive of risk for eating disorder symptoms.

Self-critical perfectionism and binge eating symptoms: a longitudinal test of the intervening role of psychological need frustration.

Although abundant research has shown that self-critical perfectionism relates to binge eating symptoms, fewer studies have addressed the role of intervening processes that might explain why this is the case. Grounded in self-determination theory, we hypothesized that self-critical perfectionism would relate to an increased risk for binge eating symptoms because it engenders frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 566 adolescents (72% female; mean age = 13.3 years) using a 3-wave longitudinal study with a 6-month interval. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that self-critical perfectionism related to increases in psychological need frustration which, in turn, predicted increases in binge eating symptoms. Structural relations were found to be equivalent for males and females. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

When or why does perfectionism translate into eating disorder pathology? A longitudinal examination of the moderating and mediating role of body dissatisfaction.

Although research has shown that perfectionism is associated with eating disorder pathology, the role of body dissatisfaction in this association is less clear. In this study, we examined the possible moderating and mediating role of body dissatisfaction in the relation between perfectionism and increases in eating disorder pathology. Both possible roles were tested in a sample of 455 adolescent girls (mean age = 13.25 years) using a 3-wave longitudinal study. We only found support for the moderation hypothesis, with girls high on both perfectionism and body dissatisfaction exhibiting the highest levels of eating disorder symptoms. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Fostering self-endorsed motivation to change in patients with an eating disorder: the role of perceived autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: Although several studies have established the beneficial effects of self-endorsed forms of motivation for lasting therapeutic change, the way patients with an eating disorder can be encouraged to volitionally pursue change has received less attention. On the basis of Self-Determination Theory, this longitudinal study addressed the role of an autonomy-supportive environment and psychological need satisfaction in fostering self-endorsed motivation for change and subsequent weight gain. METHOD: Female inpatients (n = 84) with mainly anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa filled out questionnaires at the onset of, during, and at the end of treatment regarding their perceived autonomy support from parents, staff members, and fellow patients, their psychological need satisfaction, and their reasons for undertaking change. Furthermore, the body mass index (BMI) of the patients at the onset and end of treatment was assessed by the staff. Path analyses were used to investigate the relations between these constructs. RESULTS: At the start of treatment, perceived parental autonomy support related positively to self-endorsed motivation through psychological need satisfaction. Perceived staff and fellow patients autonomy support related to changes in self-endorsed motivation over the course of treatment through fostering change in psychological need satisfaction. Finally, relative increases in self-endorsed motivation related to relative increases in BMI throughout treatment in a subgroup of patients with anorexia nervosa. DISCUSSION: These results point to the importance of an autonomy-supportive context for facilitating self-endorsed motivation.

Too strict or too loose? Perfectionism and impulsivity: the relation with eating disorder symptoms using a person-centered approach.

Although both perfectionism (i.e. personal standards perfectionism and evaluative concerns perfectionism) and impulsivity have been shown to be implicated in eating disorders, no previous studies have examined the interplay between both personality dimensions in their association with eating disorder symptoms. This is the first study to investigate the relationship between empirically derived personality subtypes based on perfectionism and impulsivity and eating disorder symptoms (i.e., dietary restraint, and concerns over eating, weight and shape). Cluster analysis was used to establish naturally occurring combinations of perfectionism and impulsivity in adolescent boys and girls (N=460; M age=14.2 years, SD=.90). Evidence was obtained for four personality profiles: (1) a resilient subtype (low on perfectionism and impulsivity), (2) pure impulsivity subtype (high on impulsivity only), (3) pure perfectionism subtype (high on perfectionism only), and (4) combined perfectionism/impulsivity subtype (high on both perfectionism and impulsivity). Participants in these four clusters showed differences in terms of eating disorder symptoms in that participants with a combination of high perfectionism and high impulsivity (rather than the presence of one of these two characteristics alone) had the highest levels of ED symptoms. These findings shed new light on extant theories concerning ED.

The body perfect ideal and eating regulation goals: investigating the role of adolescents' identity styles.

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.

Are maladaptive schema domains and perfectionism related to body image concerns in eating disorder patients?

Both maladaptive schemas (MS) and perfectionism have been associated with eating pathology. However, previous research has not examined these variables simultaneously and has not studied possible mediating relationships between MS and multidimensional perfectionism for body image concerns in eating disorder (ED) patients. Eighty-eight female ED patients completed the Young Schema Questionnaire, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the Body Attitude Test. Body image concerns were found to be positively related to Personal Standards (PS) and Evaluative Concerns (EC) perfectionism and all five schema domains. PS Perfectionism was positively associated with Disconnection, Other-directedness, and Overvigilance. EC Perfectionism was positively related to Disconnection, Impaired Autonomy, Other-directedness, and Overvigilance. Moreover, EC perfectionism was found to be a significant mediator in the relationship between the schema domains Impaired Autonomy and Overvigilance and body image concerns. These findings denote the importance to address both core beliefs and perfectionism in ED treatment.

Is there a perfectionist in each of us? An experimental study on perfectionism and eating disorder symptoms.

Previous studies have shown consistent associations between perfectionism and eating disorder (ED) symptoms. However, to date, only one study (Shafran et al., 2006) used an experimental design to examine in a non-clinical sample the causal relationship between perfectionism and ED symptoms. The current experimental study aimed to build on that study by examining the role of trait perfectionism in the effects of an experimental induction of perfectionism and by adopting a multidimensional approach to perfectionism. University students (N=100; Mage=20.6 years; SD=2.24) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions, that is, a high Personal Standards condition, a condition combining Personal Standards perfectionism and Evaluative Concerns perfectionism, and a non-perfectionist condition. Compared to the non-perfectionist condition, participants in the two perfectionist conditions reported higher levels of state perfectionism during the next 24 h and this effect occurred irrespective of trait perfectionism levels. Further, participants in the perfectionist conditions, compared to those in the non-perfectionist condition, reported significantly higher levels of restraint and binging during the 24 h after manipulation. Together, the results suggest that perfectionism can be induced in people irrespective of their levels of trait perfectionism and that perfectionism represents a causal risk factor for ED pathology.

An empirical typology of perfectionism in early-to-mid adolescents and its relation with eating disorder symptoms.

Although the association between perfectionism and eating disorder (ED) symptoms is well-established, debate remains about the relative contribution of two central dimensions of perfectionism, that is, Personal Standards (PS) perfectionism and Evaluative Concerns (EC) perfectionism, in the prediction of ED symptoms. This study used cluster analysis to establish naturally occurring combinations of PS and EC perfectionism in early-to-mid adolescents (N = 656; M age = 13.9 years). Evidence was obtained for four perfectionism profiles: (1) maladaptive perfectionism (high PS and high EC), (2) pure evaluative concerns perfectionism (high EC only), (3) adaptive perfectionism (high PS, low EC), and (4) non-perfectionism (low on both PS and EC). A comparison of participants in these four clusters in terms of ED symptoms suggests that a combination of high personal standards and evaluative concerns (rather than the presence of one of these two dimensions alone) is most strongly related to ED symptoms.