Levina Clark

Sociocultural and individual psychological predictors of body image in young girls: a prospective study

This study investigated the prospective predictors of body image in 9- to 12-year-old girls. Participants were 150 girls in Grades 4-6 with a mean age of 10.3 years. Girls completed questionnaire measures of media and peer influences (television/magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations), individual psychological variables (appearance schemas, internalization of appearance ideals, autonomy), and body image (figure discrepancy and body esteem) at Time 1 and 1 year later at Time 2. Linear panel analyses showed that after controlling for Time 1 levels of body image, none of the Time 1 sociocultural variables predicted body image variables at Time 2. Body mass index (BMI; a biological variable) and psychological variables, however, did offer significant prospective prediction. Specifically, higher BMI, higher appearance schemas, higher internalization of appearance ideals, and lower autonomy predicted worsening body image 1 year later. Thus, higher weight and certain psychological characteristics were temporally antecedent to body image concerns. It was concluded that both biological and individual psychological variables play a role in the development of body image in children. Individual psychological variables, in particular, may provide useful targets in prevention and intervention programs addressing body image in 9- to 12-year-old girls.

Sociocultural Influences and Body Image in 9- to 12-Year-Old Girls: The Role of Appearance Schemas.

This study tested whether an individuals beliefs about the importance of appearance in their life is a mediator of sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction in young girls. Participants were 265 girls in Grades 4 to 7 (M age = 10.71 years) from 5 private primary schools in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Girls completed questionnaire measures of appearance television and magazine exposure, peer appearance conversations, autonomy, appearance schemas, and body dissatisfaction. Appearance media exposure and peer appearance conversations were negatively related to body esteem, and autonomy positively predicted body esteem. Most important, appearance schemas mediated between all sociocultural variables and body dissatisfaction.

Positive body image and young women's health: Implications for sun protection, cancer screening, weight loss and alcohol consumption behaviours

This study examined the link between positive body image and a range of health behaviours. Participants were 256 women who completed an online questionnaire measuring body appreciation, body dissatisfaction, sun protection, cancer screening, seeking medical attention, weight-loss behaviour and alcohol and tobacco consumption. Results indicated that body appreciation was positively related to sun protection, skin screening and seeking medical attention and negatively related to weight-loss behaviour. Body appreciation explained unique variance, over and above body dissatisfaction, in sun protection, skin screening and weight-loss behaviour. These results have implications for interventions to improve adherence to health behaviours.

The protective role of body appreciation against media-induced body dissatisfaction.

This study aimed to examine the protective role of positive body image against negative effects produced by viewing thin-idealised media. University women (N=68) completed trait measures of body appreciation and media protective strategies. At a subsequent session, participants viewed 11 thin-ideal advertisements. Body dissatisfaction was assessed before and after advertisement exposure, and state measures of self-objectification, appearance comparison, and media protective strategies were completed. Results indicated that body appreciation predicted less change in body dissatisfaction following exposure, such that participants with low body appreciation experienced increased body dissatisfaction, while those with high body appreciation did not. Although state appearance comparison predicted increased body dissatisfaction, neither state self-objectification nor appearance comparison accounted for body appreciations protective effect. Trait and state media protective strategies positively correlated with body appreciation, but also did not account for body appreciations protective effect. The results point to intervention targets and highlight future research directions.

Prospective associations between childhood low-level lead exposure and adult mental health problems: the Port Pirie cohort study.

Low-level environmental lead exposure during childhood is associated with poorer emotional/behavioural functioning in later childhood and adolescence. Scarce research has examined whether these apparent effects persist into adulthood. This study is the first to examine prospective associations between lead exposure across early childhood and several common adult mental health problems. Childhood data (including blood lead concentrations) and adult data (from mental health questionnaires and psychiatric interviews) were available for 210 participants (44% males, mean age=26.3 years) from the Port Pirie cohort study (1979-1982 birth cohort). Participants had a mean childhood (to 7 years) average blood lead concentration of 17.2μg/dL. Among females, childhood blood lead showed small significant positive associations with lifetime diagnoses of drug and alcohol abuse and social phobia, and with anxiety, somatic and antisocial personality problems. For example: for a 10μg/dL blood lead increase, females were 2.84 times (95% CI 1.10, 7.30) more likely to have an alcohol abuse diagnosis. However, adjustment for childhood covariates - particularly stimulation within the home environment - rendered these associations non-significant. No significant or sizeable unadjusted or adjusted associations were seen for males. The associations between early lead exposure and emotional/behavioural functioning in children might persist into adulthood, at least for females. However, it is unclear whether such results arise from residual confounding, or other mechanisms. Interventions that focus on improving the childhood home environment may have a long-term positive impact on adult mental health outcomes. However, more prospective research using large and representative samples is needed to substantiate these results.

Predictors and Health-Related Outcomes of Positive Body Image in Adolescent Girls: A Prospective Study.

This study aimed to investigate prospective predictors and health-related outcomes of positive body image in adolescent girls. In so doing, the modified acceptance model of intuitive eating was also examined longitudinally. A sample of 298 girls aged 12 to 16 years completed a questionnaire containing measures of body appreciation, potential predictors, and a range of health outcomes, at 2 time points separated by 1 year. Longitudinal change regression models showed that perceived body acceptance by others (positively), self-objectification and social comparison (negatively), and body appreciation (positively) prospectively predicted intuitive eating 1 year later, consistent with the acceptance model of intuitive eating. Perceived body acceptance by others was the only proposed predictor to prospectively predict an increase in body appreciation over time. Time 1 body appreciation prospectively predicted a decrease in dieting, alcohol, and cigarette use, and an increase in physical activity 1 year later. In particular, girls with low body appreciation were more likely than girls with high body appreciation to take up alcohol and cigarette use between time points. The results highlight body appreciation as an important target for interventions designed to prevent or delay the uptake of alcohol and cigarette consumption among girls. More broadly, they suggest that a positive body image can confer considerable benefit for adolescent girls.

Tracing the long-term legacy of childhood lead exposure: A review of three decades of the Port Pirie Cohort study

Several prospective cohort studies have demonstrated that childhood lead levels show small but statistically significant adjusted associations with subsequent development in later childhood and adolescence. The Port Pirie Cohort study is one of the few prospective cohort studies to follow participants into adulthood. This paper reviews all childhood and adulthood findings of the Port Pirie Cohort study to date. Cohort members (initially, 723 infants born in/around the lead-smelting town of Port Pirie) showed a wide range of childhood blood lead levels, which peaked around 2 years old (M=21.3μg/dL, SD=1.2). At all childhood assessments, postnatal lead levels - particularly those reflecting cumulative exposure - showed small significant associations with outcomes including cognitive development, IQ, and mental health problems. While associations were substantially attenuated after adjusting for several childhood covariates, many remained statistically significant. Furthermore, average childhood blood lead showed small significant associations with some adult mental health problems for females, including anxiety problems and phobia, though associations only approached significance following covariate adjustment. Overall, there did not appear to be any age of greatest vulnerability or threshold of effect, and at all ages, females appeared more susceptible to lead-associated deficits. Together, these findings suggest that the associations between early childhood lead exposure and subsequent developmental outcomes may persist. However, as the magnitude of these effects was small, they are not discernible at the individual level, posing more of a population health concern. It appears that the combination of multiple early childhood factors best predicts later development. As such, minimising lead exposure in combination with improving other important early childhood factors such as parent-child interactions may be the best way to improve developmental outcomes.

Predicting body appreciation in young women: An integrated model of positive body image.

This study examined a range of predictors, based on previous theoretical models, of positive body image in young adult women. Participants were 266 women who completed an online questionnaire measuring body appreciation, activity participation, media consumption, perceived body acceptance by others, self-compassion, and autonomy. Potential mechanisms in predicting body appreciation assessed were self-objectification, social appearance comparison, and thin-ideal internalisation. Results indicated that greater perceived body acceptance by others and self-compassion, and lower appearance media consumption, self-objectification, social comparison, and thin-ideal internalisation were related to greater body appreciation. An integrated model showed that appearance media (negatively) and non-appearance media and self-compassion (positively) were associated with lower self-objectification, social comparison, and thin-ideal internalisation, which in turn related to greater body appreciation. Additionally, perceived body acceptance by others was directly associated with body appreciation. The results contribute to an understanding of potential pathways of positive body image development, thereby highlighting possible intervention targets.

An extension of the acceptance model of intuitive eating in adolescent girls: a role for social comparison?

Intuitive eating (i.e., eating in response to internal cues) has been shown to be negatively related to disordered eating in women. The acceptance model of intuitive eating proposes that intuitive eating results from increased body appreciation, lowered self-objectification and body acceptance by others. As yet, this model has not been tested in adolescent girls; a group vulnerable to eating pathology. In addition to testing the acceptance model in adolescent girls, this study aimed to examine the role of social comparison. Participants were 400 girls aged 12 to 16 years who completed questionnaire measures of perceived body acceptance by others, social comparison, self-objectification, body appreciation and intuitive eating. In support of the model, perceived body acceptance and body appreciation correlated positively with intuitive eating, while self-objectification and social comparison correlated negatively. Structural Equation Modeling showed the extended acceptance model was an acceptable to good fit to the data. In particular, the effects of perceived body acceptance were mediated by self-objectification and social comparison. The findings replicate the acceptance model of intuitive eating in adolescent girls, but also indicate that social comparison is important in this process. Practically, the findings highlight several areas that may be targeted to foster adaptive eating patterns in girls. This abstract was presented in the Prevention & Public Health stream of the 2014 ANZAED Conference.

Childhood lead exposure, childhood trauma, substance use and subclinical psychotic experiences - a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract This study examined the long-term associations between childhood lead exposure, childhood trauma and adult substance use, and subclinical psychotic experiences (SPEs) in the Port Pirie Cohort Study. Adult participants were initially 402 (175 males, 227 females) 25–29 year-olds followed up from the Port Pirie Cohort Study that commenced in 1979 (55.6% of the original cohort). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted on a sub-sample of 158 participants for which adequate data was available. Variables examined as correlates of positive, negative and depressive SPEs included socioeconomic status at birth, cumulative blood lead level at age 7, maternal mental health, family functioning and cognitive ability at age 11-13, and adverse childhood experiences, alcohol use and cannabis use assessed during adulthood. Cumulative blood lead levels at age 7 were bi-variately associated with the frequency of positive SPEs in adulthood; however this relationship was not significant when other variables were accounted for. Adverse childhood experiences and substance use (cannabis use in particular) were significant correlates of SPEs in adulthood.