Media and Disturbed Eating: An Analysis of Media Influence and Implications for Prevention

Abstract

Research has linked the thinning standard of beauty portrayed in the media to increased rates of weight preoccupation and eating disturbance in women. In this paper, we review and evaluate how media influence has been defined and measured in psychological research on women's patterns of viewing and ways of responding to media, discuss the implications of this research for programs to prevent the development of eating problems by teaching girls and women to evaluate media more critically, and consider what communications research and feminist therapy perspectives might contribute to the design of effective preventions.