"I would rather be size 10 than have straight A's": A focus group study ofadolescent girls' wish to be thinner

The study aimed to investigate the body concerns of adolescent girls, toget her with the underlying motivations for the wish to be thinner. Focus group methodology was employed in order to access participants' experience in th eir own language. Altogether 67 girls of Year II (aged approximately 16 yea rs) took part in five groups. Audiotaped and transcribed discussions were s ystematically coded for themes and rated on frequency, extensiveness, inten sity, specificity and level of agreement. As expected, sociocultural influe nces, in particular the media, were reported as exerting the strongest pres sures to be thin. More importantly however, the girls displayed an unexpect ed sophistication in their conceptualization of the role of both media effe cts and body image in the construction of their self-image. Contrary to ass umptions made in quantitative research, despite clearly articulating a desi re to be thinner, the girls also described how this did not necessarily mea n they were dissatisfied with their bodies. The findings suggest that the g irls' meta-awareness and sophisticated understanding of the media and other pressures, may serve to moderate against these forces which would otherwis e seem overwhelming. (C) 2000 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.