A Prospective Study of Extreme Weight Change Behaviors Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

This study examined changes in extreme weight change attitudes and behaviors (exercise dependence, food supplements, drive for thinness, bulimia) among adolescent boys and girls over a 16 month period. It also investigated the impact of body mass index, puberty, body image, depression and positive affect on these attitudes and behaviors 16 months later. The participants were 847 young adolescents (411 boys, 436 girls). Participants completed questionnaires evaluating the above variables on three occasions, eight months apart. Girls obtained higher scores on exercise dependence, drive for thinness and bulimia. Changes in depression and body image importance were the strongest predictors of changes in these extreme attitudes and behaviors among boys; changes in depression, body dissatisfaction and body image importance were the strongest predictors for girls. The need for gender specific educational and intervention programs for adolescents are discussed.Marita McCabe PhD, Professor in Psychology in the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. She has completed her PhD in 1981 on adolescent development, and has been completing research on various aspects of adolescent adjustment for 30 years. To whom correspondence should be addressed at 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia;Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne Australia. She completed her PhD in 1990 on Childrens Language Development. In the last 10 years she has been researching body image concerns in adolescents and children