Research Project
3325630
The goal of the proposed research is to explore the development of eating problems. Research will focus on two critical adolescent transitions--(1) early adolescence, when puberty begins, and (2) late adolescence, when children often leave their parents' home. Two studies will be conducted. The first is a longitudinal study of girls from early to late adolescence (seen three times) and the second is a cross-sectional, cross-cultural study of early adolescent girls. In Study 1, 225 adolescents (and their mothers) will be seen in their college years (ages 19 to 21). These girls have already been seen twice, when they were in middle school (ages 12 to 14) and when they were in high school (ages 15 to 17). The contribution of physical status, personality factors, emotional functioning, family and peer relationships, stressful life events, and prior eating behavior to compulsive eating will be studied. Additionally, profiles of restrained and binge eaters will be distinguished, and the predictors of increases in bingeing in the college years (as opposed to the high school years) specified. Finally, whether accommodation to pubertal changes (measured at ages 12 to 14) has any long-lasting effect on eating behavior will be assessed. In study 2, 100 fifth and 100 seventh grade girls in two cultures which differ as to their emphasis on the ideal of thinness will be seen (girls from a metropolitan area in Israel and in the United States). The role of the physical changes associated with puberty as well as self-perceptions about such body changes upon negative eating attitudes will be assessed cross-culturally. Additionally, the relation between pubertal status and actual nutrition intake will be examined cross-culturally, especially as regards possible nutritional intake patterns deficient in protein and carbohydrates, calcium and iron. Finally, the extent to which body image and eating attitudes mediate the relation between nutrition and puberty will be explored cross-culturally.
