Predictors of eating behavior disorder in adolescent girls and the mediational effects of body image

Negative body image and eating behavior disorder are serious nutritional issues that should be duly addressed during adolescence to prevent future adverse adult health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the contribution of biological (age, body, mass index, ethnicity, and puberty development), psychological (self-esteem, depressive symptoms) and sociocultural factors (gender-role types, parental influence, peer influence, media influence, social comparison, and thin-ideal internalization) in predicting negative body image between the predictors and eating behavior disorder. Also, the meditational effects of body image and eating behavior disorder were determined for developing a comprehensive multifaceted model of the etiology of eating behavior disorder in adolescent girls. Data for the study were collected from 407 female secondary school students in the Kuantan district, Pahang by using a set of standardized self0administered questionnaire that comprised 11 section, including socio-demographic background, food consumption habits, eating behaviors, body image, sociocultural influences (parents, peers and media), pubertal development, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, types of gender role, thin-ideal internalization, and social comparison. Indeed, two of the instruments in the questionnaire – Multidimensional Body Image Scale (MBIS) and sociocultural Influences on Body Image Scale(SIBIS) were developed to determine the various dimensions of body image and sociocultural influences (parent, peer and media) on body image respectively. Results of factor analysis for the two instrument showed that the MBIS comprised seven dimensions, and the SIBIS consisted of 5-dimension of parental influence subscale, 4- dimension of peer influences subscale, and 3-dimension of media influence subscale. Three models were developed to determine the contributions of the biopsychosocial predictors on i) negative body image, ii) eating behavior disorder (without body image), and iii)