Social influences and female adolescent dieting

A large sample of female adolescents whose ages ranged from 12 to 17 years completed a battery of measures assessing their dieting status and their pe rceived psychosocial influences to diet. Higher levels of perceived influen ce from parents and peers were reported by girls who were dieting with a gr eater frequency. While age and social influences significantly predicted di eting status on their own, when examined together, the effect of social inf luence overrode that for age. (C) 2000 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.