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Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Investigation of ethnic differences in body image between Hispanic/biethnic-Hispanic and non-Hispanic White
Sarah J Erickson1, Melissa Gerstle
1Department of Psychology, Logan Hall, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. erickson@unm.edu
Abstract:
The extent to which the construct of body image is measurement invariant across ethnic groups is an important consideration for studies examining ethnic differences and characteristics that influence body image disturbances. However, the literature examining the body image construct as a function of ethnic group membership is limited. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether Hispanic/biethnic-Hispanic and non-Hispanic White preadolescent girls (aged 8 through 12 years old; N=141) had fundamentally different conceptualizations of body image in a low to low/middle socioeconomic status school-based sample. Our findings suggest that the measurement construct of body image was similar and relatively stable for Hispanic/biethnic-Hispanic and non-Hispanic White preadolescent girls. In addition, the body image construct was predictably related to disordered eating symptoms in both groups, with different dimensions of body image differentially predictive by ethnic group. Overall, body image appears to be a meaningful construct with similar measurement meanings across Hispanic/biethnic-Hispanic and non-Hispanic White ethnic groups.
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