Mass media has become a huge influence in Western culture (Simpson, 2000). There ideals of slimness and beauty have infiltrated the minds of young females thus making many of them develop a phobia of becoming fat (Simpson). Thompson & Heinberg (as cited in Simpson) say that the role of the media is “the most potent and pervasive communicators of sociocultural standards” (p. 66). They see that the media’s role is broadcasting opinions to females about the societal ideas of thinness and beauty (Simpson). In addition, multimillion diet industries are becoming extremely popular and are encouraging Western woman to diet and get slim (Simpson). Stice, Nemeroff & Shaw (as cited in Simpson) say that it is the maladaptive messages in the mass media that predisposes women to eating disorders. Furthermore they say, that when “family and peers reinforce those messages against a setting of low self-esteem, poorly developed self-concept and perceptions of being above an ideal weight,” (Simpson, p. 66) opens the doors to fat-phobia, which in turn might lead to anorexia nervosa. “In a study on a group of 271 adolescents in North America, it was found that most of the girls thought they were fatter than they really were…almost half the girls in the study thought they were too fat, even though 83% were a normal body weight” (Simpson, p. 67). As Rastam (as cited in Scharer & Pearson) reports there is “a strong concern about being overweight [which seems] to predate the development of anorexia nervosa” (p. 84).
2/ The Families Influence
Family members have a strong influence on adolescent females especially when they are growing up (Polivy & Herman, 2002). Branch & Eurman (as cited in Polivy & Herman) found that “families often praise anorexic nervosa patients’ slenderness, and envy the self-control and discipline required to achieve it” (p. 193). Thus, many researchers like Vandereyecken, Kog & Vanderlinden (as cited in Schareer & Pearson, 1999) note that the family pathology may be the result of this illness rather than the causative factors. “Family dynamics have been implicated not only in the perpetuation of eating disorders but also in their development (Polivy & Herman, p. 194). Simpson (2002) indicates that it is “the family in which the fundamental work of identity is carried out” (p. 66). She says that the “family transmits cultural messages about the ideal body shape [thus opening doors for members] to develop body image dissatisfaction and eating disorders” (Simpson, p. 66).
Mothers are said to have a huge influence on their daughters when it comes to anorexia as they stress attraction and thinness to their daughters when growing up (Polivy & Herman, 2002). Levine, Smolak, Moodey & Henssen (as cited in Field et al, 2001) have a similar view point as they “suggested that weight control behaviors among young girls are modeled partially on their mothers’ behavior” (p. 55). Thus, “mothers who themselves have an eating disorder tend to have a negative influence on their children’s attitudes and behaviors, feeding them irregularly, using food for nonnutritive purposes, and expressing concern about their daughters’ weight as early as the age of 2” (Polivy & Herman, p.194). Furthermore, in Scharer & Pearson’s (1999) research article they describe the typical mother and father figures of anorexic children. Mothers they described as being intrusive, ambivalent, and dominant, while fathers were seen as passive and ineffectual” (Vandereyecken et al as cited in Scharer & Pearson, p. 83). In Field et al (2001) article, it states that “several studies have observed that girls whose mothers diet and are concerned with their weight and shape are more likely than their peers to developing unhealthy weight control practices” p. 55. In addition the results of their study concluded that “children who perceive that their mother is frequently trying to lose weight were more likely to become highly concerned with their weight” (Field et al, p. 59).
In addition further literature found that “aberrant behaviors like anorexia nervosa may emerge, as a cry for help or for attention from family members” (Slee & Rosen as cited in King, 2000, p. 140). MacMullen & Brucker (1987) defined four characteristics that may be present in a family at high risk for anorexia nervosa; “Enmeshment, overprotection, rigidity & conflict avoidance” (p. 58).
“An enmeshment family is one that has turned inward. The boundaries between parents and children are blurred and the differentiation is diffused. [Thus] an adolescent may be unable to separate herself from her family…directing her feelings inward and on her own bodily functions, as in anorexia. [In overprotection] “The members of the family, especially the parents, tend to be extremely protective of the children. In response to such parental hypervigilance, a child may develop an overriding concern for her own actions, which is then transformed into an obsession for perfection. The anorexic child creates her own concept of a perfect persona by overachieving and attempting to develop a perfect body through self-starvation. [Rigidity is when] the family of the anorexic has been theorized to have longstanding dysfunction interactions. [Conflict avoidance appears] when problems are diagnosed, the family focuses exclusively on the problem and its sequelae as a means of avoiding other conflicts and problems” (MacMullen & Brucker, 1987, p. 58).
There have been significant associations between anorexia symptoms and parental overprotection, as well the effects of adverse family background (McDermott, Batick, Roberts & Gibbon, 2002). Chan & Ma’s (2002) research study clearly demonstrates the relationship between anorexia and family background. In their article they talk about a daughter from Hong Kong starving herself to get revenge on the family because “she had to sacrifice the meaning of her life for the family business” (p. 50). Researcher Gower & North (as cited in McDermott et al) disagree about family influences and anorexia nervosa, as they “found no relationship between adolescent report of family functioning and anorexia nervosa severity, nor any differences with controls on self-report of family dysfunction” (p. 510).
3/The Influence of Peers
There is significant evidence that peers contributes to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa. Levine et al (as cited in Polivy & Herman, 2002) state, “adolescent girls learn certain attitudes and behaviors from their peers” (p. 192). They say, girls are influenced by the attitudes of their peers, thus they are encouraged to diet and possess a slim figure (Polivy & Herman, 2002). Paxton et al (as cited in Polivy & Herman) suggests that “adolescent female friendship cliques tend to be homogenous with respect to body-image concerns,” (p. 192) thus signifying direct peer influence. However, Ennett & Bauman (as cited in Polivy & Herman) think otherwise, saying “that the possibility remains that cliques do not influence their members so much as ‘recruit’ them on the basis of shared concerns” (p. 192). Stice (as cited by Polivy & Herman) believes that the influence of peers and family is more potent that the influences of media, which is contradicted in the studies by Wertheim, Paxton, Schutz & Muir (as cited by Polivy & Herman) as they find the reverse. Through Polivy & Hermans research they conclude that peer influences is extremely broad and pervasive thus it is causing more pathology that what is actually occurring.
In Field et al (2001) article, they assessed the influences of peers, parents and media on the development of weight concerns in adolescents. They state that “to gain acceptance by their peers, adolescents may resort to adopting the perceived beliefs and behaviors practiced by members of their groups” (p. 55). Levine et al (as cited in Field et al) conducted a study assessing the relationship of weight control practices of middle school girls and their peers. In their study they discovered that the weight control practices in the school girls were significantly related to their peers (Field et al). There are many researchers who do not believe peers have a huge influence on the development of anorexia nervosa, however, there are many who do believe that peer pressure is a direct influence on this illness. As an adolescent and young child it is fairly easy to be pressured by ones peers, thus parents need to educate and support their children while growing up.
References
References
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McDermott, B., Batik, M., Roberts, L. & Gibbon, P. (2002). Parent and child report of family functioning in a clinical child and adolescent eating disorders sample. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36(4), 509-514. Retrieved November 02, 2003, from Academic Search Elite.
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