Dyadic Predictors of Child Body Shame in a Polish and Italian Sample

Abstract

The present study aimed at assessing the predictors (related to the functioning of a parent-child dyad) of child body shame. Therefore, in the main analysis we examined relationships among child body shame, child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent body shame, parent perfectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. In our main hypothesis we assumed that higher levels of the abovementioned parent functioning-related variables would be associated with higher child body shame after accounting for the effects of the foregoing child functioning-related variables. The analysis finally included complete data from 420 participants, i.e., a 115 Polish and 95 Italian parent-child dyad. Participants completed: (a) child: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale for Youth, the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, the Children’s Body Image Scale/the Figure Rating Scale; (b) parent: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale. The results of a correlational analysis show that in both the Polish and Italian samples, the higher the level of child body shame, the higher the level of the following variables: child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent perfectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. Interestingly, the only insignificant relationship in both samples is the association between body shame in both members of the child-parent dyad. Moreover, all steps of the regressions were significant in both Polish and Italian samples. It turned out that only in the Italian sample were all predictors significantly associated with a child’s body shame (in the Polish sample there was no significant association between child’s body shame and parent’s perfectionism). To sum up, the above studies show the importance of considering the functioning of the parent-child dyad in understanding child body shame. These findings suggest that parents' attitudes toward their bodies and their beliefs about an ideal self should be taken into account when planning interventions to improve children’s and adolescents’ attitudes toward their bodies. This is so because it is possible for children to internalize their parents’ beliefs about how to look and how critical one should be of themselves, which can result in strong body shame when they are not perfect enough against the internalized ideal. Therefore, it is also necessary to make parents aware that children’s attitude toward their body is often a reflection of parents’ attitude toward the body.

The Role of Body Shame and Age on Appearance-Based Exercise and Positive Body Image in Women from Poland: Preliminary Results of a Cluster Analysis

“…These results indicate that both body shame and age may contribute to the intensity of appearance-based exercise and positive body image deterioration. The results are consistent with some reports cited in the theoretical introduction, e.g., [ 6 , 18 , 19 ]. It may therefore mean that women in the younger age group feel greater shame about their body, which may be related to the fact that standards of appearance are more intensely internalized by this group, and social pressure to have the “perfect body” is more intense [ 45 , 46 ].…”

“…Positive image may be understood as love and respect for your own body expressed, inter alia, through [ 16 , 17 ]: (a) accepting your own body (even if it does not conform to idealized standards of beauty), (b) appreciating the uniqueness of the body and functions it can perform in our lives, (c) feeling comfortable and being happy in relation to your body, (d) the ability and tendency to appreciate the values of one’s body, and not to focus too much on its flaws. It is therefore worth verifying whether the direction of the relationship between body shame and positive body image will be consistent with the outcomes from research on negative body image—i.e., whether a high level of shame will favour a low level of positive body image, e.g., [ 6 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Body Shame in 7–12-Year-Old Girls and Boys: The Role of Parental Attention to Children’s Appearance

“…Parents represent the most important models for children’s development (Maccoby, 1994 ), and they preeminently influence their children’s attitudes toward body image both directly (e.g., via comments and/or criticism; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2005 ) and indirectly (e.g., through the expression of their own negative body image; Czepczor-Bernat et al, 2022 ; Domoff et al, 2021 ). For example, Abraczinskas and colleagues ( 2012 ) showed that negative body image (i.e., drive for thinness) and bulimic symptomatology in undergraduate women were related to their parents’ weight- and eating-related comments (see also Vincent & McCabe, 2000 ).…”

“…Despite these relevant findings, when focusing on children’s body shame, research is once again very limited. To the best of our knowledge, the only study investigating the association between parental influence and children’s body shame found that parental body dissatisfaction and perfectionism (mainly from mothers) were positively associated with body shame in children at approximately 13 years of age (Czepczor-Bernat et al, 2022 ).…”