A test of the structural model of initiation of dieting among adolescent girls

This article reports alternative findings from a pilot study to those prese nted recently (Strong GF, Huon KG. J Psychosom Res, 1998;44:315-326) in reg ard to the proposed model of sociopsychological processes involved in the i nitiation of dieting among young adolescent girls. One hundred thirteen fem ale high school pupils completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed dieting status, dietary restraint, autonomous functioning, skill-related fu nctioning, social influence, and family functioning. The results indicate t hat family functioning predicts dietary restraint but that this effect is m ediated by peer influence to diet. Furthermore, family functioning was asso ciated with autonomous functioning, suggesting that this relationship shoul d be pursued in a future test of the model. This pattern of results is diff erent from an earlier test of the model, which indicated only a parental in fluence on dieting status. The results confirm that peer influences should be retained as a causal factor in a reformulated structural model. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.