Parental bonds, attachment anxiety, media susceptibility, and body dissatisfaction: a mediation model

Abstract

The developmental trajectory of body image dissatisfaction is unclear. Researchers have investigated sociocultural and developmental risk factors; however, the literature needs an integrative etiological model. In 2009, Cheng and Mallinckrodt proposed a dual mediation model, positing that poor-quality parental bonds, via the mechanisms of heightening romantic attachment anxiety and thin-ideal media internalization, increases body dissatisfaction. We tested 2 versions of this model, including an alternate model featuring attachment anxiety in close friendships. We recruited females ages 12-24, primarily from a mid-sized private religious university, to complete self-report measures. The participant sample was ethnically diverse, with approximately 40% endorsing minority status. Results showed that mother care and father care were negatively linked to friendship attachment anxiety and romantic attachment anxiety. Friendship and romantic attachment anxiety were positively linked to media susceptibility. Media susceptibility was positively linked to body image dissatisfaction. Mother care and father care were negatively, indirectly linked to body image dissatisfaction through the mediators of friendship attachment anxiety and media susceptibility. Mother care made a significant, albeit small, contribution to body image dissatisfaction after controlling for other variables. Overall, findings suggest that adverse parent-child relational factors may indirectly elevate body dissatisfaction, operating through attachment anxiety and susceptibility to sociocultural pressures.