Content area
Full Text
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-005-9020-7Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 35, No. 2, April 2006, pp. 141151 ( C 2006)Body Image Concerns in Young Girls: The Role
of Peers and Media Prior to AdolescenceHayley K. Dohnt1 and Marika Tiggemann2Received January 18, 2005; revised 00, 0000; accepted March 17, 2005
Published online: 2 March 2006Peer and media influences have been identified as important conveyors of socio-cultural ideals in
adolescent and preadolescent samples. This study aims to explore peer and media influences in the
body image concerns and dieting awareness of younger girls, aged 58 years. A sample of 128 girls
was recruited from the first 4 years of formal schooling. Individual interviews were conducted to
assess the aspects of body image, as well as dieting awareness by means of a brief scenario. A number
of sources of peer and media influence were examined. It was found that by 6 years of age, a large
number of girls desired a thinner ideal figure. Both peer and media influences emerged as significant
predictors of body image and dieting awareness. Specifically, girls perceptions of their peers body
dissatisfaction predicted their own level of body dissatisfaction and dieting awareness. Watching
music television shows and reading appearance-focused magazines predicted dieting awareness. In
particular, girls who looked at magazines aimed at adult women had greater dissatisfaction with their
appearance. Thus, the present study highlights that girls aged 58 years of age are already living in an
appearance culture in which both peers and the media influence body image and dieting awareness.KEY WORDS: body image; dieting awareness; socio-cultural influences; young children.INTRODUCTIONBody image dissatisfaction is acknowledged as
a pervasive problem experienced by a large proportion
of society (Polivy and Herman, 2002). In particular,
the desire for thinness is so prevalent among women
that it has been identified as a normative discontent
(Rodin et al., 1985). Although initial research targeted
adolescence as the age of onset for body dissatisfaction,
a growing research consensus has now established that
preadolescent girls (approximately aged 811 years) are
also dissatisfied with their bodies and wish to be thinner
(e.g., Cusumano and Thompson, 2001; Field et al., 2001).
Recent comprehensive literature reviews have implicated1Hayley Dohnt, B. Psych. (Hons.), is completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Flinders University. Her major research interests
are...