Associations Between Self and Peer's Fear of Fat in Predicting Dietary Restraint, Weight/Shape/Eating Concerns, and Thin‐Ideal Internalization: A Dyadic Exploration in Female Friend Pairs

OBJECTIVE: Fear of fat may reflect concern regarding rejection one may experience at a higher weight. Peers play a major role in socialization and support during adolescence and young adulthood. While studies have highlighted peers as an important source of influence underlying disordered eating, it is unclear whether one's own fear of fat or peers' fear of fat is associated with concerns about weight, shape, eating, and eating behaviors. METHOD: The present study used data from 94 female friend pairs (mean age = 20.18, SD = 1.77). Actor-partner interdependence models were conducted to explore the extent to which one's own fear of fat predicted their own dietary restraint, weight concerns, shape concerns, eating concerns, and thin-ideal internalization (actor effects), as well as the extent to which the individual's friend's fear of fat predicted the individual's dietary restraint, weight concerns, shape concerns, eating concerns, and thin-ideal internalization (partner effects). The Antifat Attitudes Questionnaire was used to assess fear of fat. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire was used to assess dietary restraint and weight/shape/eating concerns. The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-4 was used to assess thin-ideal internalization. BMI was included as a covariate. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated robust actor effects, whereas partner effects were small and/or non-significant. DISCUSSION: Results highlight that one's own attitudes about weight are stronger predictors of their dietary restraint, weight/shape/eating concerns, and thin-ideal internalization. These results might further suggest that an individual's perception of their peers may be a stronger predictor of their disordered eating than their peers' objective attitudes.