Pathways to serious dieting: Significant insights from discontinuity

Objectives: This paper outlines a strategy for systematically examining the discontinuity in pathways to serious dieting. Method: Eight hundred and tw enty-three adolescent females were recruited from six high schools in metro politan Sydney, Australia. They completed a battery of measures that assess ed perceived social influences to diet, predisposition to conformity, prote ctive skills, aspects of positive familial context, and dieting-related att itudes and status. Testing took place over two occasions approximately 10 m onths apart. Results: Family context, protective skills, and a predispositi on to conformity were found to differentiate the vulnerable girls who repor ted high levels of social influence from those who did not. However, those variables did not differentiate those with high social influence who seriou sly diet from nondieters. Body mass index, drive for thinness, and body dis satisfaction differentiated all of the comparison groups tested. Age did no t consistently differentiate these groups. Discussion: The findings can tel l us what seems to protect girls who appear susceptible to social influence s from becoming serious dieters. (C) 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.