Development of body image and eating disorder symptoms: Normative and risky trajectories
Body image is a critical area of wellbeing that predicts many important outcomes, including eating pathology. Unfortunately, there is no consensus about what constitutes normative body image development, or how people come to develop negative body image and eating disorders.
This set of studies (which, together, formed Dr. Lacroix’s dissertation) aim to advance understanding of both normative and pathological trajectories of body image development, as well as disordered eating. First, we completed a longitudinal meta-analysis to summarize prior literature in this area, and identify average patterns of mean-level change in body image development over time. Second, we examined patterns of body image development in a U.K. sample of 328 girls and 429 boys assessed between ages 11 and 15. Third, we examined a U.S. sample of 760 female twins assessed between ages 11 and 29, to identify patterns of body image development and their associated personality characteristics.
Together, findings suggest that a negative body image and disordered eating may develop slightly earlier than previously believed. Personality risk factors like negative emotionality and neuroticism, as well as dieting during the preteen years, are important risk factors. The positive? Girls and boys may both, on average, experience improvements in body image during emerging adulthood. Stay tuned for updates on this program of research!
Lacroix, E., Smith, A.J., Husain, I.A., Orth, U., von Ranson, K.M. (2023). Normative body image development: A longitudinal meta-analysis of mean-level change. Body Image, 45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.03.003
Lacroix, E., Atkinson, M., Garbett, K. M., & Diedrichs, P. (2020). One size does not fit all: Trajectories of body esteem development and their predictors in early adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 34(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420000917
Lacroix, E., Wilson, S., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., & von Ranson, K. M. (In press). Trajectories and personality predictors of eating pathology development in girls from preadolescence to adulthood. Clinical Psychological Science.