Depressive symptoms as a moderator of fat talk and body image outcomes within mother-daughter dyads

Adolescent girls and mothers are vulnerable to poor body image outcomes, which are often reinforced through fat talk, a self-disparaging body-related conversation. Depression may exacerbate this risk, particularly among those engaging in fat talk. This study examined the associations, among mother-daughter dyads, between fat talk and restrictive, emotional, and external disordered eating, eating disorder symptoms, and body dissatisfaction, as well as whether depression moderated these associations.

104 mother-daughter dyads completed online measures. Adolescent daughters (M = 15.73 years old; SD = 2.51) and their mothers (M = 43.17 years old; SD = 8.58) were primarily white/Caucasian.

Actor effects of fat talk significantly predicted all body image outcomes. Partner effects emerged only for daughters' fat talk predicting mothers' body dissatisfaction. Depression moderated the association between fat talk and restrictive eating but did not moderate other associations. However, depression did independently predict poorer body image outcomes.

Findings highlight the importance of studying mother-daughter dyads and capturing how psychopathology contributes to subclinical eating disordered behaviors, informing risk identification for eating disorder development.