Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating are common concerns among athletes. The Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image and Eating Disturbance proposes that parents, peers, and the media are the three primary sociocultural influences that cause body dissatisfaction and, in turn, disordered eating. However, there may be other sociocultural influences affecting athletic populations (coach, teammate, and sport pressures). We had two main aims for the present study: 1) explore which sociocultural factors most strongly predicted body satisfaction and disordered eating in female athletes, and 2) examine differences between lean sport (e.g., swimming) and non-lean sport (e.g., lacrosse) athletes on sociocultural influences, body satisfaction, and disordered eating. Participants included 211 female undergraduate Division I student-athletes (110 lean sport athletes; 101 non-lean sport athletes) who completed measures on sociocultural influences, body satisfaction, and disordered eating. A factor analysis indicated that coach, teammate, and sport pressures were better represented by one factor: athlete pressures. Subsequent relative weight analyses revealed that parent, peer, media, and athlete pressures were all significant predictors of body satisfaction and disordered eating; however, peer influences emerged as the strongest predictor of those variables. Lean sport athletes had higher scores of athlete pressures than non-lean athletes; however, they did not differ on the other sociocultural influences, body satisfaction, or disordered eating. This study contributes to our understanding of sociocultural predictors’ differential influence on athletes’ body satisfaction and disordered eating and the vulnerabilities of lean sport athletes, which could lead to future interventions.
Pallotto, I. K., Sockol, L. E., & Stutts, L. A. (2019, November). I can’t get no (body) satisfaction: Sociocultural pressures associated with disordered eating and body satisfaction in female athletes. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies, Atlanta, GA.