Rumination as a Psychological Risk Factor for Body Dissatisfaction in Middle-Aged Women
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2019-09-12
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Abstract
In a society that promotes anti-aging, sociocultural pressures for a young and thin body type negatively affects body image and mental health in aging women. However, little is known about how women in middle adulthood experience body dissatisfaction. Given that cognitive appraisal is a component of body dissatisfaction, this study aimed to investigate whether perseverative negative thinking about one’s body, assessed by ruminative brooding and reflection, contributed to body dissatisfaction in midlife women. In order to better understand the link between rumination and body dissatisfaction, depression, trait anxiety, self-esteem, and quality of life were utilized as mediators. A sample of 351 women between 40 to 65 years of age from the United States were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and completed several self-report measures. The findings revealed that ruminative brooding significantly predicted body dissatisfaction, compared to ruminative reflection. Additionally, depression, trait anxiety, self-esteem, and quality of life partially mediated the relationship between ruminative brooding and body dissatisfaction. The findings suggested that ruminative brooding might be an underlying mechanism of body dissatisfaction in middle-aged women. Implications for counselling and research highlight the importance of addressing negative self-focused thinking about one’s body and its potential consequences.
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Nieborowska, V. (2019). Rumination as a Psychological Risk Factor for Body Dissatisfaction in Middle-Aged Women (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.