This study investigated the intrapersonal and interpersonal context of female dieting and partner
support for dieting in 44 heterosexual couples. Participants completed questionnaires assessing
self and relationship functioning, dieting levels and eating disordered attitudes, and weight-loss
support frequency and helpfulness, in both a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. As predicted,
a) higher levels of unhealthy dieting were significantly related to more negative views of the self
(e.g., lower self-esteem), and b) lower perceived levels of support from the partner were
significantly related to higher levels of eating-disordered attitudes, anxious attachment, and lower
relationship satisfaction. However, testing more complex causal models showed that self-esteem
played a pivotal role. First, tests confirmed that the impact of self-esteem on unhealthy dieting
was mediated by more disordered attitudes to eating. Second, those with low-self-esteem were
much less likely to diet in an unhealthy fashion with more frequent and positive partner support,
whereas high self-esteem women were not influenced by the support offered by their partners.
These findings did not apply to the frequency of healthy dieting, with the important exception
that more frequent partner support encouraged healthier dieting, and they held up when plausible
third variables were statistically controlled. The findings suggest that dieting behaviour is
influenced both by individual differences and the nature of support in intimate relationship
contexts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/1582 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Chisholm, Amy Marie |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. Psychology |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright Amy Marie Chisholm, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
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