Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Risk factors for body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls: a prospective study
Katherine Presnell1, Sarah Kate Bearman, Eric Stice
1Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA. presnell@mail.utexas.edu
Objective:
Despite evidence that body dissatisfaction predicts the onset of eating pathology and depression, few prospective studies have investigated predictors of body dissatisfaction.
Method:
We examined risk factors for body dissatisfaction using prospective data from 531 adolescent boys and girls.
Results:
Elevations in body mass, negative affect, and perceived pressure to be thin from peers, but not thin-ideal internalization, social support deficits, or perceived pressure to be thin from family, dating partners, or media, predicted increases in body dissatisfaction. Gender moderated the effect of body mass on body dissatisfaction and revealed a significant quadratic component for boys, but not girls. Gender also moderated negative affect.
Discussion:
Results support the assertion that certain sociocultural, biologic, and interpersonal factors increase the risk for body dissatisfaction, but differ for boys and girls. Results provided little support for other accepted risk factors for body dissatisfaction.
Related Concept Videos
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Anorexia Nervosa
Symptoms and Physical Effects
Individuals with anorexia nervosa commonly exhibit extreme...
Bulimia Nervosa
Bullying
