Aesthetic model, body image, self-esteem and symptomatology of eating disorders in Mexican and Spanish adolescents

© 2016, Fundacion para el Avance de la Psicologia Clinica Conductual. All rights reserved. The objective of the research was to analyze the relationship between country of origin, body image dissatisfaction, influence of the aesthetic body shape model and self-esteem on the development of eating disorders (ED) symptomatology in Mexican and Spanish adolescents. The participants were 117 female adolescents, 68 from Mexico and 49 from Spain (Mage= 15.34 years old, SD= 0.51), who completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ), the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Aesthetic Body Shape Influence Questionnaire (CIMEC-26, in Spanish) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Regarding the symptomatology of ED, the interactions of the country with the rest of the variables did not show a significant influence (p=.721), the body image dissatisfaction (p<.005) and the influence of the aesthetic body shape model (p=.002) showed a positive and significant effect, while self-esteem and country of origin did not show any significant effect. According to these results there is no difference between the influence of the risk factors and the development of ED symptomatology in both countries.