The effect of body dissatisfaction on disordered eating: The mediating role of self-esteem and negative affect in male and female adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether self-esteem and negative affect sequentially mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. A total of 806 adolescents (61.8% females) completed the Drive for Thinness, Bulimia, and Body Dissatisfaction subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the General Health Questionnaire-28, and the Negative Self-beliefs subscale of the Eating Disorder Belief Questionnaire. Mediational analyses showed that body dissatisfaction had both direct and indirect effects through self-esteem and negative affect on disordered eating. It was also observed that negative self-esteem mediated—completely in boys and partially in girls—the relationship between body dissatisfaction and negative affect.