The tripartite influence model of body image and disordered eating among young adult athletes

Athletes face a unique set of environmental, interpersonal, and performance-based appearance pressures that may increase risk for disordered eating. Frequent exposure to idealized body standards and performance expectations, within both athletic and broader sociocultural contexts, has been linked to body dissatisfaction and unhealthy eating behaviors, which may also be overlooked as "good athlete" behaviors. One framework for understanding such risk factors is the Tripartite Influence Model, which posits that societal appearance-related pressures are associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating via three specific pathways. The current study evaluates and extends the Tripartite Model to identify potential sociocultural pathways to disordered eating symptoms among athletes. The final sample consisted of 334 young adult athletes (73.35% female, 23.35% male, 3.30% another gender). Path analysis evaluated a model with previously supported sociocultural pressures in the general population (family, peers, media), combined with two sport-specific pressures (coaches, teammates) associated with five disordered eating outcomes-body dissatisfaction, binge eating, excessive exercise, restrictive eating, and cognitive restraint-via indirect effects through thin-ideal internalization, athletic-ideal internalization, and appearance comparisons. After minor adjustments to accommodate theoretically justified covariances (e.g., thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction), the final model demonstrated acceptable fit (CFI = 0.96; TLI =.88; RMSEA = 0.075; SRMR = 0.060). Indirect effects revealed that family and media pressures were associated with multiple disordered eating outcomes via internalization and appearance comparison processes, while teammate pressure was indirectly associated with excessive exercise through athletic-ideal internalization, underscoring teammates as a salient source of sport-specific appearance pressure.