Body Dissatisfaction Scores Research Articles

Psychosocial Factors Related to Eating Disorders among High School and College Female Cheerleaders

Seventy-three college female and 84 high school female cheerleaders participated in the current study on eating disorders and pressures within cheerleading. The participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), and CHEER, a measure developed by the authors to identify pressures within cheerleading. A one-way MANOVA indicated significant differences between high school and college cheerleaders on CHEER and SPAS. Correlational analyses revealed a strong relation between SPAS, body dissatisfaction scores, and eating behavior, suggesting that body image is an important predictor for eating disorders in cheerleaders. Moreover, although high school cheerleaders reported fewer pressures than their college counterparts, they exhibited greater body dissatisfaction and disordered eating patterns.

Body dissatisfaction adjusted for weight: The body illusion index

The current study extends earlier observations that body dissatisfaction is positively associated with body weight for eating disorder patients and for nonpatient college women. An adjustment to the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) Body Dissatisfaction score (i.e., the “Body Illusion Index” or “Bll”) is proposed to statistically eliminate the effects of relative body weight on Body Dissatisfaction scores and to systematically increase Body Dissatisfaction scores at lower relative weights. The adjustment results in a mean adjusted body dissatisfaction score for the anorexia nervosa patients more closely resembling that for bulimia ner-vosa patients and differing significantly from normal weight college women. The “Body Illusion Index” addresses the different meanings and clinical significance that body dissatisfaction implies for individuals at different weights. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.