Objectified Body Consciousness (OBC) in Eating Psychopathology

Abstract

Objectified body consciousness (OBC) appears to play a crucial role in eating and body-related disturbances, which typically emerge during adolescence. The 24-item OBC Scale (OBCS) has been employed in eating disorder (ED) research and school-based adolescent samples, but evidence for its psychometric proprieties exists only in adult (nonclinical) populations. We evaluated (a) the construct validity and reliability of the 24-item OBCS with data collected from 1,259 adolescent girls and boys from the community (Study 1) and 643 adolescents of both genders with an ED (Study 2) and (b) whether the instrument functions similarly and equivalently measures the underlying construct(s) across gender and samples (i.e., test of measurement equivalence/invariance; Study 3). Results upheld the three-factor structure and measurement equivalence/invariance of the 24-item OBCS across gender and samples. OBCS subscale scores were internally consistent and stable over a 4-week period. OBCS subscales discriminated community participants with high and low ED symptom levels with fair accuracy, as well as community participants from those with an ED. They were also associated with five constructs closely related to both OBC and ED psychopathology. Latent mean comparisons across samples and gender were performed and discussed. Implications and directions for future research are also outlined.

Predictors of initiation and persistence of recurrent binge eating and inappropriate weight compensatory behaviors in college men

“…As the hyper‐focused attention on and consistent monitoring of the body's outward appearance has been suggested to contribute to the discrepancy between actual and ideal body attributes and/or paradoxically magnify perceived body imperfections, self‐objectification and its cumulative effect may play a key role in the acceleration of body discontent, associated affective distress and/or negative self‐evaluation, thereby potentiating meaningful increases in behavioral symptoms of EDs or maintaining existing recurrent symptomatology . According to scholars, when individuals with EDs or regular behavioral symptomatology continue to think of and monitor their own body's appearance from a third‐person perspective, factors that contribute significantly to pathogenic eating (i.e., body dissatisfaction, negative affectivity) remain untouched .…”

“…The 6‐item Low Self‐Esteem Scale of the Italian validated ED Inventory‐3 ( α Τ1,T2 = 0.89) and the 8‐item Body Surveillance Subscale of the Italian validated Objectified Body Consciousness Scale ( α Τ1,T2 = 0.89) were used to measure low self‐esteem and participant's self‐objectification tendency, respectively. The 10‐item Negative Affect Subscale of the Italian validated Positive and Negative Affect Schedule ( α Τ1 = 0.91; α Τ1 = 0.92) was administered to assess negative affectivity over the past month.…”

“…Though traditionally studied in relation to college women's eating pathology, increasing evidence from research with boys and young men indicated that (a) they are preoccupied with how their body appears from a third‐person perspective, (b) opportunities for self‐objectification (i.e., experimental or daily exposure to media idealized‐images or appearance‐focused comments/conversations) result in increased body dissatisfaction, negative affectivity, and decreased global sense of self‐worth, and (c) experimental manipulations of self‐objectification increased key (self‐reported) attitudinal and behavioral features of EDs . In addition, to reliably distinguish individuals (males included) with recurrent BE and IWC behaviors or any type of ED (partial EDs included) from appropriate healthy controls, the degree of self‐objectification influences the severity of ED pathology and comprehensive recovery from any type of ED is associated with reduced levels of this variable …”

The Development of the Internalization of Sociocultural Body Ideals Scale Using Items From the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire: Validity, Reliability, and Measurement Invariance Testing

“…Traditionally, the literature that has examined social pressure has centered upon women and the consequences of searching for ideal of feminine beauty associated with thin-bodied models (Cusumano and Thompson 1997;Thompson and Stice 2001;Thompson et al 2004). This may be explained by the fact that women are more likely to be the targeted by their peers and the media to have "perfect bodies" compared with men leading to more negative consequences (e.g., eating disorders) among women than in men (Dakanalis et al 2017). Despite this assumption, evidence demonstrates that men also feel sociocultural pressure to achieve socially accepted standards of beauty (Karazsia and Crowther 2008;Ricciardelli and McCabe 2004;Tylka 2011).…”

The Body Project: A Narrative and Social Network Analysis

“…Self-objectification the viewing of the self as an object or from another's perspective (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997), has been associated with body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomology (Dakanalis et al, 2016;Frederickson & Roberts, 1997), with some studies suggested that body focused shame mediates the relationship between self-objectification and eating disorder symptomology (Noll & Frederickson, 1998). Frederickson and Robert's (1997) self-objectification theory posits that increased objectification is associated with increased self-monitoring and decreased awareness of internal bodily states leading those with higher levels of selfobjectification to be at risk for anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and depression.…”