Predictors of Eating Pathology in Adolescents: A Comparison of Ballet Dancers and Non-Dancers

Adolescence is a developmental stage in which there is a heightened risk for the development of eating pathology in girls. Adolescents who participate in aesthetic sports, such as dance or gymnastics, which are known to emphasize thinness, are believed to be at even higher level of risk for eating pathology than girls in the general population. Ballet is an example of an aesthetic sport where thinness is thought to be greatly emphasized and valued. There is a strong body of literature indicating that ballet dancers have more eating pathology than non-dancers, but explanatory models have not been extensively researched and dancers’ perceptions about the pressures that they experience have rarely been assessed. The current study tested a predictive model of eating pathology in adolescent girls who were hypothesized to experience different levels of risk for eating pathology. Girls who were studying classical ballet at well-established dance schools (N = 45) were compared with high school girls who were not currently studying ballet (N = 111) on individual, interpersonal, and socicultural variables that were selected for their strong empirical support. Although dancers in the current sample had significantly lower BMIs than non-dancers, they did not have higher levels of pathological eating. However, SEM analyses indicated that the processes leading to pathological eating among dancers and non-dancers differ. Analyses of dancers’ experiences suggested that dancers did not perceive pressures to be thin from instructors or peers. Instead, dancers who participated in the current study perceived ballet to be a positive experience in their life with a health-promoting effect.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Windsor

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Spadafora, Alison

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Thomas, Cheryl (Psychology)

Licence

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_CA

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14776/4982

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwindsor.scholaris.ca:20.500.14776/4982