DClinPsy Portfolio Volume 1 of 3 - University of Hertfordshire ...

Similarly, negative characteristics such as poor social functioning, impaired academic
success and low perceived health are attributed to overweight bodies, even by children as
young as age nine (Hill and Silver, 1995). The findings of Hill and Pallin, (1998) support
the view that some young girls are drawn to weight control in order to improve their
perceived self-worth.
Friestad et al (2004) found that perception of body image was a strong predictor of girls’
dieting at ages 15, 18 and 21 while self-esteem remained an insignificant contributor
throughout this period. The fact that body image was a strong predictor among girls
indicates that body-specific cognitions, rather than general or global evaluations of selfworth
(as implied in the concept of self-esteem), affect girls’ dieting behaviour. Other
studies, however, have found that body dissatisfaction is also associated with lower selfesteem
(Williams and Currie, 2000). This appears to be at least partly due to the
operationalisation and measurement of the concept ‘self esteem’.
Additionally, the negative affect induced by having a negative body image could initiate
dys-regulated eating such as bingeing, skipping meals and consumption of unhealthy
foods. Indeed Keel, Fulkerson and Leon (1997) found that a negative body image was
strongly associated with feelings of depression in their sample of 10–12 year-olds. Other
longitudinal analyses also show that low body satisfaction during early and middle
adolescence is predictive of later signs of more global mental distress, including lower
self-esteem and depressive symptoms (e.g. Stice et al, 2001). Williamson (1996)
suggested that the negative cognitive distortions present in those with depression may
explain the link between body image dissatisfaction and depression.
Although much research suggests that dieting and other disordered eating behaviours can
lead to being overweight, obesity or Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa, not all of these
females will be expected to develop eating disturbances. Polivy et al (2002) proposed that
while body image dissatisfaction has a causal role in the development of disordered
eating and eating disorders, it is not sufficient.
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