Media, Body Image and Adolescent Eating Disorders

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

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ABSTRACT

This paper aims at presenting the impacts of media presentation of body images on the adolescents and how it is leading to eating disorders. Several theories have been proposed in an effort to explain why eating disorders are, but no evidence has been named as the main cause of any eating disorder. Most modern theorists believe that biological, social, cultural and psychological factors interact to contribute to the development and maintenance of eating disorders. With the help of this qualitative secondary research, it is evident that it is important to focus this study on emerging adults in college, as they are particularly prone to experiencing body dissatisfaction and depression. Also, college students endorse alarming rates of body image disturbance, but females are more prone to experiencing eating pathology and body dissatisfaction relative to males, as well as showing a more robust relationship between these disturbances and depressive.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Purpose of Study3

Problem Statement4

Research Questions4

Significance5

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW6

Body Image/Satisfaction Conceptualized6

Correlates of Body Satisfaction6

Depression7

Problems in Academic Functioning7

Eating Disturbances8

BMI and Weight9

Appearance investment, size estimation, and body shape discrepancies10

The Media and Body Satisfaction Size of individuals in the media11

Exposure time to media14

Importance of media influences on body dissatisfaction15

Social Comparison17

Summary21

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY23

Research Design23

Literature Search23

Keywords24

Pitfalls and Problems24

Rationale for a Qualitative Study24

CHAPTER 04: DISCUSSION26

Body Image26

Eating Disorder27

Media27

Analysis28

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION30

Media Influence on Women's Reaction to Body Self-Image31

Socio-cultural Attitudes towards Appearance (Awareness, Internalization, and Perceived Pressures)32

Recommendations35

REFERENCES37

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background

Body image, also referred to as body satisfaction, is a view of one's overall physical appearance (Altabe & Thompson, 1996). Having poor body image, or greater body dissatisfaction, has been shown to be a risk factor for depression (e.g., Santos, Richards, & Bleckley, 2007), eating disturbances (Tylka, 2004), and problems in academic functioning (Yanover & Thompson, 2008a; Yanover & Thompson, 2008b). For example, 50% of college females report dissatisfaction with their bodies (Monteath & McCabe, 1997), and 25-40% demonstrate problematic eating and dieting behaviors (Schwitzer et al, 2008). Moreover, college students have been shown to be an especially vulnerable population to the effects of body dissatisfaction and depression, with longitudinal studies indicating that 20 percent of college age students exhibit suicidal at some point (Abramson et. al, 1998).

Further, females have been shown to have greater body dissatisfaction (Altabe & Thompson, 1993) and to engage in more social comparison relative to males (Jones, 2001). Finally, perceived physical attractiveness for females has also been shown to be associated with weight and ...