Over the years, there have been conflicting findings concerning the question of whether athletes are at increased risk for disordered eating. While there have been many studies examining the relationship between sports demands and eating disorders, the specific risk factors underlying the development of these disorders have been debated. The purpose of this study was to expand on the existing literature and Petrie, Anderson, and Neumann's model (2011) in particular, by examining the notion of perfectionistic self-presentation in relation to various other risk factors leading to the development of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors within the female running population. This study was conducted under the assumption that competitive females participating in lean-type sports (e.g. runners) are under the influence of sport pressures, along with societal pressures (Petrie, Anderson, & Neumann, 2011). It was predicted that these pressures would be subsequently related to greater internalization of the thin ideal. Moreover, it was expected that the greater the internalization, the lower one's body satisfaction, and the higher one's self-presentation scores. It was hypothesized that the combination of all these risk factors would relate to a higher rate of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. A second hypothesis was that, with age, female runners would exhibit less concern about body image and self-presentation, thus producing a lowered incidence of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to test the proposed model. Overall, the constructs within the respecified structural model were supported, although some of the initially proposed hypothesized pathways were not. The greater one's internalization of the thin ideal was, the higher one's self-presentational scores, and the lower one's body satisfaction, which then related to more disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. These findings provide direction for future research and interventions that could reduce female runners' risk of developing disordered eating attitudes and behaviors by reducing the importance placed on messages promoting the thin ideal, and instead focusing on communicating the importance of physical health over physical appearance and weight-loss. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2013. / April 1, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert C. Eklund, Professor Directing Thesis; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; Beth Phillips, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185078 |
| Contributors | Piekarewicz, Adriana (authoraut), Eklund, Robert C. (professor directing thesis), Tenenbaum, Gershon (committee member), Phillips, Beth (committee member), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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