Body size perception and dissatisfaction in female subjects of different ages

The relationships between age and both body size estimation and body dissatisfaction were assessed by Distorting Television Image Method (DTIM) and Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) in a sample of 96 female subjects of ages ranging from 7 to 65 years. We found that there were no significant body distortion differences between different age ranges, although the most accurate perception seemed to occur during adolescence. As far as DTIM assessment of body dissatisfaction was concerned, adolescents showed no significantly greater aesthetic preoccupation than subjects of other age groups. On the other hand, using BCS, body dissatisfaction appeared to increase proportionally with age. The low, although significant, correlations between these two techniques of measuring body dissatisfaction suggest that, in addition to evaluating aesthetic features, BCS also assesses the degree of satisfaction with functional body aspects which are exposed to unavoidable decline with ageing.