Description
Beginning as early as 9 years old, girls begin to show concerns for their weight and body. The importance of body image has increased among researchers, and many interventions have targeted body image dissatisfaction to reduce the alarming numbers of young girls with negative self-esteem and body image issues. While sources of influence such as media, family, and peers have been identified to be related to body image satisfaction in adolescents, this information has not been effectively used in interventions and the number of teens battling self-esteem issues continues to rise. Existing studies are limited in their focus on exploring preventive measures. The proposed study aims to fill this gap by examining whether participating in a Girl Scout troop is associated with body image dissatisfaction among adolescent females. Study participants (n = 60) were between the ages of 10-17 years old, with a mean age of 13 years. Of the 60 participants, 47% were Girl Scouts (n = 28) and 53% were not Girl Scouts (n = 32). Eighty seven percent reported engaging in at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Results indicated that Girl Scouts were less likely to (1) have body image dissatisfaction (p < .001), (2) internalize societal appearance norms and standards (p < .001) and (3) have overall dissatisfaction with physical appearance compared to non-Girl Scouts (p< .001). Girl Scouts were also less likely to (1) desire to change their weight (p = .03), (2) feel social pressure to have a certain body figure (p = .03), and (3) engage in body figure comparison compared to non-Girl Scouts (p = .005). Participant age could not be controlled in the current study due its confounding with Girl Scout participation. Findings suggest the need for future research with a larger, more representative sample that includes female adolescents of different races/ethnicities, and socio-economic statuses. Future studies should examine the causal relationship between Girl Scout participation and various measures of body image dissatisfaction. Should a causal relationship exist, a Girl Scout curriculum could be evaluated as a potential intervention against body image dissatisfaction.
