نارضایتی از بدن و خوردن مختل در نوجوانان پرتغالی و اسپانیایی: نقش ویژگی های قردی و درون-سازی ایده آل های اجتماعی-فرهنگی

The aim of this study was to explore the differences in patterns of risk factors for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes in both female and male adolescents from Portugal and Spain. The sample included 455 adolescents aged 12–16 years (M = 13.28, SD = 0.65) from two urban areas of each country. Body mass index, self-reported self-esteem, perfectionism, internalisation of sociocultural ideals, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes were assessed. Path analyses provided partial support for a cross-cultural model of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Western countries due to the presence of certain differences in the patterns of relationships across sex and country. The findings suggest the importance not only of identifying cultural specificities, even in “neighbouring” countries, but also of developing a global and comprehensive preventive approach that focuses on the influence of the ideal of beauty transmitted by Western societies.

The impact of Western culture's standards of beauty on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating has been widely studied, especially among adolescents, as adolescence is a period in which individuals are more attentive to the changes that occur in their bodies. During this period, preoccupations with physical appearance frequently arise, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating to compensate for this dissatisfaction and to attain the idealised body (Levine & Smolak, 2002). This idealised body image is usually built on the ideas of beauty spread by the society and, especially, reinforced via the media, peers and family (e.g., Bell and Dittmar, 2011, Field et al., 2001 and Stice and Shaw, 2002). Currently, this cultural pressure is felt not only by females – requiring them to have bodies that are excessively thin and impossible for most of them to achieve (Stice & Whitenton, 2002) – but also, and increasingly so, by males (Halliwell & Harvey, 2006). They are asked to “build” moderately muscled and athletic bodies, and this has led to increased concern about body image and the use of weight and body shape control methods among young males and a considerable prevalence of eating disorders (6.5%; Kjelsås, Bjørnstrøm, & Götestam, 2004), higher than previously thought (Daniel and Bridges, 2010, Field et al., 2001 and Kjelsås et al., 2004).