TITLE:
Body-focused Anxiety in Women: Associations with Internalization of the Thin-ideal, Dieting Frequency, Body Mass Index and Media Effects
AUTHORS:
Aileen Pidgeon, Rachel A. Harker
KEYWORDS:
Body-focused Anxiety; Internalization of the Thin-ideal; BMI; Dieting
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Psychology,
Vol.2 No.4B,
October
22,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Exposure to media that portrays thin women as ideal and
attractive can lead to women internalizing the thin ideal, which results in incorporating societal
standards of thinness into belief systems. Internalization of the thin-ideal is
associated with numerous detrimental effects on women, including decreased
levels of self-esteem and increased levels of body-focused anxiety, negative
emotions and disordered eating. The present study utilized a sample of women (N = 208) aged between 18 and 67 years (M = 29.44, SD = 13.08) to examine the relationship between internalization
of the thin- ideal, body-focused anxiety, body mass index (BMI), and dieting
frequency. Correlational, regression and mediation analyses conducted on the
data showed that internalization of the thin-ideal, BMI and dieting frequency significantly
contributed to body-focused anxiety in women. In addition, body-focused anxiety
fully mediated the relationship between internalization of the
thin-ideal and dieting frequency among women. BMI did not moderate the
relationship between internalization of the thin-ideal and body-focused,
indicating that women who internalize the thin-ideal are less vulnerable to
dieting unless experiencing body-focused anxiety. The results of the current
study enhance our understanding of the relationship between internalization of
the thin-ideal, body-focused anxiety, BMI, and dieting frequency among women.
Clinical implications will be discussed.