white females and their mothers during the former's middle-schooled years.
(13.93 years) and then two years later. They set out to see how much the.
development of eating problems represented a mode of accommodation to.
pubertal change. Taking a "developmental" approach, the authors studied the.
impact of the pubertal transition relative to other aspects of the female.
adolescent experience. (Attie and Brooks-Gun). .
These researchers emphasized one very significant fact: that as girls.
mature sexually, they accumulate large quantities of fat. For adolescent girls,.
this growth in fat tissue is one of the most dramatic physical changes associated.
with puberty, adding an average of 11 kg of weight in the form of body fat. This.
increase in fat is, in turn, directly connected to desires to be thinner. (Attie and.
Brooks-Gun, p.7O) This reality is due to the fact that, as Attie and Brooks-Gun.
demonstrate, female body image is intimately bound up with subjective.
perceptions of weight. Prepubescent girls who perceive themselves as.
underweight are most satisfied while the opposite occurs for those who are.
overweight or perceive themselves to be such. Thus, Attie and Brooks-Gun.
found that dieting emerged as the female body developed, and that is was a.
function of the body image transformation occurring at puberty. (Attie and.
Brooks-Gun, p.71).
Aside from the pubertal changes that the authors found significant in this.
issue, family relationships were also detected to influence the emergence of.
eating disorders. Families that set high standards for achievement, gave little.
support for autonomy, and blurred interpersonal boundaries left adolescent girls.
with deficits in their self-esteem. (Attie and Brooks-Gun, p.71) Once again, as.
mentioned earlier, it makes sense in a very complex way that young girls who.
have been abused in this way end up "controlling" things that are ultimately not.
good for them. For instance, a young girl who was made to feel powerless in.