The direct effect of thin ideal focused adult television on young girls' ideal body figure

Doeschka J Anschutz, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Tatjana van Strien, Rutger C M E Engels

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The present study tested the direct effect of watching thin-ideal focused television aimed at (young) adults on body dissatisfaction in preadolescent girls (9-12 years old). A within-subject design was used in which the girls (N=60) were tested three times. They watched three movie clips in random order that were either focused explicitly (thin-ideal program) or indirectly (soap opera) on the thin ideal or were neutral in content. Afterwards, they filled out questionnaires concerning their body dissatisfaction. Only older preadolescent girls (11-12 years old) showed greater body dissatisfaction after watching the thin-ideal focused television clip than after watching the neutral television clip. After watching thin-ideal focused television, they desired a thinner body figure than after watching neutral television. The findings imply that watching (adult) thin-ideal television directly affects the ideal body figure in older preadolescent girls.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-33
Number of pages8
JournalBody Image
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Body Image
  • Body Mass Index
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Imitative Behavior
  • Male
  • Obesity
  • Overweight
  • Personal Satisfaction
  • Self Concept
  • Socialization
  • Television
  • Thinness
  • Young Adult
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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