James J. Gray

Cultural expectations of thinness in women: An update

An investigation of current American societys depiction of the ideal female body was performed. Body measurements of Playboy magazine centerfolds and Miss America contestants for 1979–1988 indicated body weight 13–19% below expected weight for women in that age group. Miss America contestants showed a significant decrease in expected weight between 1979 and 1988. Comparisons were made with an earlier study which had demonstrated that body measurements of both groups had decreased during the period 1959–1978. Diet-for-weight-loss and exercise articles in six womens magazines were tabulated for 1959–1988. A significant increase in both diet articles and exercise articles occurred during this period. These findings suggest that the overvaluation of thinness continues and thinness is now sought through both dieting and exercise.

Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, psychological adjustment, and ethnic identity: a comparison of black and white female college students.

The low prevalence of restrictive eating disorders among black women has been attributed primarily to cultural differences in the definition of beauty. Utilizing self-report measures, this study examined differences in the nature of disordered eating behaviors for black and for white female college students. Analyses of covariance and correlational tests revealed that white females demonstrated significantly greater disordered eating attitudes and behaviors than black females. Additionally, the data indicated that although disordered eating behaviors and attitudes are related to actual weight problems for black females, this is not the case for white females. Furthermore, this study is the first to provide evidence that restrictive eating disorders among black women are related to the degree to which they assimilate to mainstream culture. Finally disordered eating behaviors and attitudes were related to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem in both groups.

Complex messages regarding a thin ideal appearing in teenage girls’ magazines from 1956 to 2005

Seventeen and YM were assessed from 1956 through 2005 (n=312) to examine changes in the messages about thinness sent to teenage women. Trends were analyzed through an investigation of written, internal content focused on dieting, exercise, or both, while cover models were examined to explore fluctuations in body size. Pearsons Product correlations and weighted-least squares linear regression models were used to demonstrate changes over time. The frequency of written content related to exercise and combined plans increased in Seventeen, while a curvilinear relationship between time and content relating to dieting appeared. YM showed a linear increase in content related to dieting, exercise, and combined plans. Average cover model body size increased over time in YM while demonstrating no significant changes in Seventeen. Overall, more written messages about dieting and exercise appeared in teens magazines in 2005 than before while the average cover model body size increased.

Judgement Accuracy in Body Preferences Among African Americans

Perceptions of body size vary by gender and ethnicity. Women are more dissatisfied with their bodies than are men and Caucasian women are more dissatisfied with their bodies than are African American women. The purpose of this study was to examine if African American men and women accurately estimate the level of thinness preferred by the opposite gender. We predicted that African American women would correctly estimate the level of thinness found attractive by African American men, thereby providing support for the explanation that African American women are partially protected from experiencing similar levels of body dissatisfaction as Caucasian women do because they correctly estimate that African American men like larger women. Participants were 68 African American women and 34 African American men. The results supported our prediction, African American women accurately estimate the level of thinness preferred by African American men.

A preliminary investigation of the relationship between induced rumination and state body image dissatisfaction and anxiety

The current study investigated the relationship between cognitive rumination and state body image distress using an experimental design. Specifically, the study examined whether participants induced to ruminate about an imagined negative body image event would report more body image dissatisfaction and anxiety compared to those induced to distract themselves. Ninety-nine undergraduate women completed two measures to assess depressive symptomology and baseline body image distress. All participants then silently read a body image scenario intended to evoke negative emotions. After reading the scenario, participants were randomized into one of two conditions, rumination or distraction, and were then re-administered the self-report measures. Statistical analyses revealed that the rumination group reported more state body image dissatisfaction and anxiety after the manipulation. The findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that a ruminative response style, specifically within a body image domain, predicts body image dissatisfaction and anxiety.

COMPARISON OF MEASURES OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS BETWEEN ETHNIC GROUPS

It has been hypothesized that African Americans report lower scores than Caucasians on standardized tests of socioeconomic status. College students were asked to report their familys socioeconomic class. In addition, the Revised Hollings-head four-factor socioeconomic questionnaire was given. Both groups surveyed, African American and Caucasian, underestimated their social class, but there were no differences between the groups.

Bulimia Nervosa: Group Behavior Therapy with Exposure Plus Response Prevention

Exposure plus response prevention has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. However, when done individually, it is labor intensive and cost-ineffective. In the present study exposure plus response prevention was used in the context of a 6-wk., 12-session behavioral group. In addition to the exposure plus response-prevention component, other techniques included self-monitoring, cognitive restructuring, eating-habit stabilization and problem-solving. Eight bulimic women, vomiting a minimum of five times per week for at least a year, participated in the group. At the end of treatment significant reductions in bingeing and vomiting behaviors were reported by all but one subject, substantiated by significantly lower depression scores (Beck Depression Inventory) and binge-eating scores (Binge Eating Scale). At 6 mo. and 1 yr. posttreatment, 6 of 8 subjects reported averaging less than one binge-purge episode per week, one subject continued unchanged, and one subject had relapsed. A group of wait-list control subjects reported essentially no change in binge-purge frequency over the treatment period. Exposure plus response prevention conducted in a behavioral group context appears to be a cost-effective alternative to individual treatment.

The eating disorders inventory among Asian-American college women.

THE MANY ATTEMPTS TO ACHIEVE a complete picture of the etiology of eating disorders are notable for their complexities and inclusiveness. Relevant risk factors, identifiable from all domains, include sociocultural, developmental, psychological, and biological variables (Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986). One must question how much the acquisition of an eating disorder can be attributed to the society or the culture of which the individual is a member. Researchers have posited that if, or when, persons of different racial groups internalize the Caucasian norms of thinness as the ideal, then greater degrees of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction emerge (Pate, Pumariega, Hester, & Garner, 1992). According to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-W, American Psychiatric Association, 1994), the prevalence of bulimia nervosa among European American female adolescents and I

Predicting obesity reduction in behavioral and nonbehavioral therapy from client characteristics: The self-evaluation measure

The predictive power of a self-evaluation measure and 10 other client characteristics was contrasted in behavioral and nonbehavioral obesity treatments. The self-evaluation measure (self-evaluation of accuracy of time interval estimates) was positively related to weight reduction in behavioral groups ( r =.53, n =24) and negatively related to weight reduction in nonbehavioral groups ( r =−.61, n =24). Subjects above the mean of the self-evaluation measure lost more weight in behavioral than in nonbehavioral therapy, but subjects below the mean of the self-evaluation measure lost equivalent amounts in both therapies. None of the other measures correlated strongly with the self-evaluation measure. Weight reduction at the end of the 9-week treatments was not related to most other measures, including actual accuracy of time estimates, age of obesity onset, and a variety of self-monitoring and self-management measures obtained before random assignment to treatments. Multiple regression analyses using the two best predictors for each type of therapy suggested that weight reduction at the end of treatment can be predicted moderately well in behavioral ( R =.64) and nonbehavioral ( R =.70) obesity treatment.

Increasing pressure to be thin: 19 years of diet products in television commercials

Abstract The number of television commercials for diet foods and diet products shown on the three major American networks was tabulated for the years 1973–1991. A significant increase in both diet food commercials and diet product commercials was found during this period, and during the different time periods throughout the day. The findings index the pressure placed upon Americans to purchase diet food and diet products. The significance of these findings with respect to eating disorders is discussed.