Objective: Covariance structure modeling (CSM) and longitudinal analyses were used to identify a possible causal sequence for factors that might lead to the development of body image and eating disturbance in adolescent females. Method: In Study 7, subjects were measured for level of obesity, perceived weight status, maturational timing, history of being teased about weightlsize, body image, eating disturbance, and global psychological functioning. Study 2 was a systematic replication of Study 7 using different indices of body image and a more comprehensive assessment of eating disturbance. In Study 3, subjects from Study 7 were reassessed at a 3-year follow-up. Results: The findings from Study 7 indicated that level of obesity and perceived weight, but not maturational timing, had a directional influence on the other variables. In addition, teasing history was significantly related to the development of body image and eating disturbance. CSM and path analyses with Studies 2 and 3 data generally replicated and extended the results from Study 7.

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Two studies were conducted to determine the overlap among multiple measures of subjective body image disturbance. Study 1 was conducted on 219 adolescent females (ages 14–18 years) who completed seven widely used indices of self‐reported body image disturbance. Study 2 involved 162 college females (ages 17–35 years) and six measures of disturbance, five of which were identical with those instruments used in Study 1. Factor analyses indicated the existence of two factors in the adolescent sample, however, one factor was quite strong and accounted for most of the variance. Analyses on the adult subjects revealed the existence of a single body image factor. It was concluded that the measures under investigation largely reflect an underlying single factor of body image, despite their common usage in the literature as indicators of multiple aspects of body image disturbance. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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