Eating behaviours in adolescent girls: the role of body shame and body dissatisfaction

Numerous studies are conducted to investigate factors influencing eating and weight-related problems, given the alarming prevalence of such behaviours among adolescents. The relationship between shame, especially body shame, and eating disorders has received increased attention in recent years. The current study contributes to this field by exploring body shame as a potential mediator of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and eating behaviours among adolescent girls, while controlling for age and body mass index (BMI). The participants, 187 adolescent girls from three secondary schools in Zagreb, completed self-report measures of demographic, eating behaviours, body satisfaction and body shame. Body shame and body dissatisfaction explained statistically significant amount of eating behaviours variance, while controlling for age and BMI. Further, body shame partially mediated the relationship between body dissatisfaction and eating behaviours. This study provides further evidence of the experience of body shame among adolescent girls and suggests that this shame is associated with disordered eating behaviours. Future longitudinal research designed to specifically explore body shame and other potentially shared risk factors is needed, and would enhance our understanding of eating disorder aetiology.