Predicting disordered eating intentions among incoming college freshman: An analysis of social norms and body esteem

Steven M. Giles, Donald Helme, Marina Krcmar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between parental influence, peer norms, body esteem, and disordered eating intentions in a sample of incoming college freshmen women. A total of 427 incoming female college freshmen from a private university in the southeastern United States were surveyed as part of a larger study. Results indicated that body esteem moderated the relationship between parent thinness norms, parent encouragement norms, parent communicative norms, peer acceptability norms, and peer prevalence norms on disordered eating intentions. There was no significant interaction between body esteem and peer thinness norms. These results suggest that efforts to prevent disordered eating among college students should include strategies for changing normative influence, both from parents and peers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)395-410
Number of pages16
JournalCommunication Studies
Volume58
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2007

Keywords

  • Body Esteem
  • Disordered Eating
  • Parent Norms
  • Peer Norms

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Predicting disordered eating intentions among incoming college freshman: An analysis of social norms and body esteem'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this