A longitudinal investigation of perceived friend influence on adolescent girls' body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.

Although major etiological models highlight the importance of friends in the development of adolescent body image and eating problems, longitudinal research that comprehensively investigates possible direct and mediational relationships between these variables is lacking. Thus, this study aimed to examine prospective interrelationships between perceived friend influence, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in early adolescent girls, and whether these relationships differed across levels of body mass. A large Australian community sample of female high school students (N = 1,094; Time 1 M age = 12.3 years) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing perceived friend influence, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating at 3 yearly intervals. Height and weight were also measured at each time point. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate two separate models, in which Time 2 body dissatisfaction was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between Time 1 perceived friend influence and Time 3 dieting and bulimic behaviors. No significant direct or indirect pathways were found between friend influence and disordered eating. Unexpectedly, however, body dissatisfaction was found to prospectively predict girls' perception of friend influence. These findings were remarkably similar in both healthy and overweight girls. The findings suggest that friends may be more influential for those adolescents who have higher levels of body image concern, rather than contributing directly to the development of body dissatisfaction. The peer environment represents an important consideration in adolescent prevention and intervention programs.

Adolescent girls' friendship networks, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating: examining selection and socialization processes.

Previous research has shown that adolescent girls tend to resemble their friends in their level of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. However, no studies to date have attempted to disentangle the underlying peer selection and socialization processes that may explain this homophily. The current study used longitudinal stochastic actor-based modeling to simultaneously examine these two processes in a large community sample of adolescent girls (N = 1,197) from nine Australian girls' high schools. Friendship nominations and measures of body dissatisfaction, dieting and bulimic behaviors were collected across three annual waves. Results indicated that selection rather than socialization effects contributed to similarity within friendship groups when both processes were examined simultaneously. Specifically, girls tended to select friends who were similar to themselves in terms of body dissatisfaction and bulimic behaviors, but dissimilar in terms of dieting. Network and individual attribute variables also emerged as significant in explaining changes in adolescents' friendships and behaviors. As well as having important clinical implications, the findings point to the importance of controlling for friendship selection when examining the role of peers in adolescent body image and eating problems.