Understanding Body Image and Eating Disorder Risk Across Development

Abstract

Body image and eating disorder development is complex and the chronological patterns of this development are relatively understudied. Additionally, many methodological issues exist within the field of body image and eating disorder risk in childhood which present difficulties in recruitment and study design which should be addressed. Furthermore, body image has historically mainly been studied in the West, and research into body image cross-culturally is sorely lacking.
This thesis presents five empirical chapters researching body image and eating disorder risk across childhood and adolescence and concludes with a broader look at body image across the lifespan. Chapter 3 presents a longitudinal cohort study which considers predictors of eating disorders from 7-15 and found different pathways for boys and girls, as well as the mediating effect of depression for girls only. Chapter 4 employs behavioural play with dolls and qualitative methods to explore the relationship between gender stereotypes and ideal body internalisation in children as young as 4- years-old. Chapter 5 is the first ever study to look at where children and adolescents look on their body using eye-tracking methods and how this is related to body part satisfaction and overall body satisfaction, as well as identifying the development of body avoidance. Chapter 6 uses an innovative virtual reality paradigm to explore children’s thoughts about different sized bodies using a mixed methods approach and finds that children and adolescents both have strong preferences for lower adiposity bodies. Finally, Chapter 7 looks at body image and sociocultural pressure across the lifespan and cross-culturally to explore the lifetime developmental patterns of body image.
Together, this thesis highlights the developmental patterns of body image and eating disorder risk in individuals aged 4-80-years-old. Each empirical chapter employs different methodologies and age ranges to create a full and detailed picture of how one’s body image develops and what sociocultural, biological, and psychological influences are salient at each point in our lives.