Background: Biopsychosocial factors have been associated with body satisfaction/dissatisfaction and related body image concerns in adolescence; however, few studies have investigated these relationships in middle childhood, an important developmental phase for body satisfaction. This study investigated relationships between a range of biological (body mass index), psychological (child anxiety/depression, self-esteem, and self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism) and sociocultural (mother's body dissatisfaction and comments about child's appearance, father's body dissatisfaction and comments about child's appearance, peer teasing and child's media exposure) factors and body satisfaction cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a sample of 7- and 8-year-old children.
Methods: In this study, participants from the longitudinal Children's Body Image Development Study (in which children had been followed-up annually from 3 years old) were assessed by interview at 7 years old (Time 1; n = 293: girls = 167, boys = 126) and 8 years old (Time 2; n = 222; girls = 126, boys = 96) and their parents completed a questionnaire at each time point.
Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that child self-esteem, socially prescribed perfectionism, and mother body dissatisfaction in the total sample at 7-years, as well as child self-esteem and mother body dissatisfaction in the total sample at 8-years were significant unique cross-sectional correlates of child body satisfaction. While self-esteem outcomes were replicated at both time points for boys and girls, some differences in patterns were found for other variables in the subsamples of boys versus girls across time points. Prospectively in partial correlations (controlling for Time 1 child body satisfaction), mother's body dissatisfaction predicted later child body satisfaction in boys and child self-esteem predicted later body satisfaction in girls. However, no longitudinal biopsychosocial predictors were identified as contributing unique variance in child body satisfaction from 7- to 8-years old after accounting for Time 1 (7-yearold) child body satisfaction.
Conclusions: These findings point to important psychosocial factors that are consistently related to body satisfaction in children and could be targets for intervention, but also suggest that a number of biopsychosocial variables develop concurrently with body satisfaction.
Keywords: Biological; Biopsychosocial model; Body satisfaction; Children; Psychological; Risk factors; Sociocultural.
A growing body of evidence suggests that children develop body image attitudes as young as 3 years old and that dissatisfaction with one’s own body increases in prevalence at around 6 years old. Body dissatisfaction is consistently associated with physical and psychological consequences, including clinical eating disorders. Despite this, there are few studies identifying factors associated with body dissatisfaction involving children. This knowledge is crucial for accurate and effective prevention and intervention strategies to be developed for this population prior to the onset of adverse physical and psychological outcomes. The current study performed a cross-sectional and prospective investigation of relationships between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors and body satisfaction in 7- and 8-year-old boys and girls to identify possible risk factors. Overall, child self-esteem and socially prescribed perfectionism as well as body dissatisfaction in mothers were the key factors related to children’s body satisfaction suggesting these as possible targets for prevention and intervention.
© 2024. The Author(s).