How Mother's Attitudes and Communication Affect Body Image Satisfaction Status of Daughters
Abstract
Research indicates that body image dissatisfaction is the best-known predictor of an eating disorder and the prevalence of eating disorders in the United States is continuing to increase. Body image dissatisfaction is most prevalent in adolescents, typically evident during the transition between middle and high school. Adolescents spend much of their time with family and many times families can unknowingly put pressure on their children to look a certain way. Parents may comment on the child’s body shape and the child’s eating patterns or may model weight concerns and disturbed eating. This is especially common among mothers and daughters.
The purpose of this study was to better understand how the communication of the mother to the daughter about herself, her daughter, and others affects the outcomes of body satisfaction status in the daughter. Further, through a sociocultural lens, this study examined the relationships between the mothers’ feelings and thoughts about both her own and her daughter’s eating behaviors and weight concerns by examining the relationships between these variables and the outcome of the daughter’s body satisfaction status. Finally, the current study examined whether there was a disconnect in what the mother believes she is telling her daughter and what the daughter is actually perceiving the message to be.
Results suggest that body-related communication and mother’s concerns about her body does affect the body image status of their daughters in a variety of ways. Moreover, it was found that the more positive messages that are being exchanged by the mother to the daughter result in more overall positive body image status in the daughters. The results suggest that the communication between mothers and daughters can significantly affect the way they feel about their bodies. Interestingly, when there are discrepancies in what the mothers report they are saying and what the daughter hears, it can significantly predict the daughter’s body satisfaction status.
Subject
body imageCitation
Clark, Shannon Leah (2021). How Mother's Attitudes and Communication Affect Body Image Satisfaction Status of Daughters. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /195081.