POTENTIAL RISK-FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WEIGHT CONTROL BEHAVIORS IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between weig ht control behaviors and potential risk factors for disordered eating in a sample of young girls. The McKnight Risk Factor Survey was admini stered to 523 elementary and middle school girls. In the sample of ele mentary school girls, results from the multiple regression analyses in dicated that frequency/severity of weight control behaviors was associ ated with body mass index (BMI), self-confidence, peers' weight-relate d pressures, ethnicity, and the interaction between having divorced/se parated parents and BMI. Sensitivity to peers' weight-related pressure s and BMI were also associated with weight control behaviors in the mi ddle school girls, along with poor body image, substance use, having d ivorced/separated parents, and the interaction between having divorced /separated parents and father's pressure for thinness. Longitudinal re search is needed to determine how risk factors change over time, begin ning in elementary school and continuing through high school. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.