Daughters' Body Dissatisfaction Partially Mediates the Relationship between Mother-Daughter Fat Talk and Daughters' Dieting

Disordered eating is one of the most common and problematic psychiatric issues among girls and young women. There are multiple variables related to negative body- and eating-related attitudes and behaviors in adolescent girls, including maternal weight-related comments, body dissatisfaction, and dieting behaviors. Examining a specific type of weight-related talk called 'fat talk,' this study investigated whether daughters' body dissatisfaction mediated the relation between mother-daughter fat talk and daughters' dieting behaviors. The design of the study was cross-sectional. Participants were 89 college-aged women and their mothers who separately completed a set of questionnaires. Results indicated that daughters' body dissatisfaction partially mediated the relation between both mother-reported and daughter-reported mother-daughter fat talk and daughters' dieting behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research, theory, and practice.