The relationship between elementary school girls' perceptions of their parents' body satisfaction and the girls' satisfaction with their own bodies

This research was designed to investigate whether a relationship exists between girls' perceptions of their parents' body satisfaction and the girls' satisfaction with their own bodies. Data from 63 Caucasian third, fourth, and fifth grade girls were collected via questionnaires which were read aloud in small groups. The questionnaire consisted of the following measures: the body dissatisfaction scale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (Garner, 1982; EDI-2, BD), an original instrument designed to understand the girls' perceptions of their mothers' and fathers' body satisfaction (POM/POD), individual questions about the girls' own eating and dieting behaviors, and some demographic information. In addition, height and weight of each girl were measured and body mass index was calculated. Results indicated that there were problems with the measures when applied to this sample. First, there was little variation in body mass index in the sample; that is, the girls were all within the normal range for their age group. Second, the EDI-2, BD was found to be unreliable for this sample of girls. Third, only 11 of the 69 girls reported that they had ever dieted, so little information was gathered about elementary school dieters. Not surprisingly, multiple regressions provided no significant information. When girls were separated into two groups based on whether they reported that mothers diet or not, t-tests showed differences on POM, POD and mothers' happiness scores. T-tests performed on girls who reported fathers diet and girls who reported fathers do not diet revealed differences on POD and mothers' happiness scores. Findings are discussed in regard to previous literature and suggestions for future research are made. In addition, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.