부산대학교 도서관

Past research has indicated that social support may play an important role in the development of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, but little is known about these associations among different races. The present study examined associations between social connections and disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in African American and European American college women. Participants included 477 European Americans and 445 African Americans from 3 Southeastern universities who reported group membership, sociability, religious involvement, relationship status, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that there was a significant main effect for group membership and sociability, but not relationship status or religious involvement, such that group membership and sociability were negatively associated with body dissatisfaction (ΔR2 = .06, p s < .03). None of the variables were associated with disordered eating nor were any of the associations moderated by race (ps > .11), suggesting that low levels of certain aspects of social connection may negatively impact body image regardless of race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]