نارضایتی از بدن در زنان متاهل: نقش نفوذ همسر و الگوهای ارتباطی زناشویی

Family factors and the media have been established as determinants of body satisfaction, yet little research has looked at the contribution of spousal influence in body dissatisfaction. Marital quality and satisfaction can be a protective factor in the health of women, while high rates of criticism have been associated with poorer health outcomes. The present study investigated the relationship between perceptions of family and spousal factors and body dissatisfaction in married women. Additionally, the impact of marital communication was investigated. Seventy-seven married women completed self-report questionnaires assessing familial body-focused comments, spousal evaluation of a wife’s body, marital communication patterns, and body dissatisfaction. After controlling for weight status, women’s perceptions of familial body-focused comments and spousal evaluation emerged as significant predictors of body dissatisfaction. It was also found that more destructive communication patterns moderated the effect of perceived spousal evaluation on body dissatisfaction. This study provides some context for understanding the impact of specific influences on women’s body dissatisfaction.

Almost 20 years ago, Rodin, Silberstein, and Streigel-Moore (1985) described body dissatisfaction as normative in the general population. Since that time, a growing literature has focused on understanding the development and maintenance of body image dissatisfaction (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). Although there is little debate that family and peers may influence the development of body dissatisfaction in younger populations (Cattarin & Thompson, 1994; Lunner et al., 2000), it is surprising that few researchers have extended this line of research to marital relationships, particularly the impact a spouse may have on body dissatisfaction in married middle-adult aged women. Research on the impact of marriage and marital quality has shown that marriage can serve as either a protective factor or a risk factor for various women’s physical and mental health problems (Fincham & Beach, 1999; Whisman, 1999; Whisman, Sheldon, & Goering, 2000). Further, research on marital communication patterns shows that marital quality may be affected by communication patterns within the marriage (Gottman, Markman, & Notarius, 1977). These findings, coupled with the degree to which body dissatisfaction may impact a woman’s sense of well-being, point to the importance of investigating the extent to which marital quality and marital communication patterns can impact women’s current levels of body dissatisfaction. The present study is designed to address this gap in the literature.