Women’s Body Image Throughout the Adult Life Span: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach

Abstract

This retrospective study examined developmental trajectories of women’s body image perceptions throughout the adult life span from life course and self-discrepancy theory perspectives. Data were collected from women over 65 years of age, recruited from 15 senior communities and centers in a Midwest U.S. state in 2012. A total of 102 older women completed a survey about their past and current body image perceptions. To examine developmental trajectories of the repeated body image measures, a latent growth modeling analysis was adopted. Distinct and significant trajectories in each body image measure during the entire adult life course were found, confirming that a retrospective account of women’s body image perceptions significantly change with age. The individual differences in the trajectories over time and the relationship between an individual’s initial mean level and the rate of change on each variable were also examined. The findings advanced understanding of the retrospective age effects on women’s body image throughout the adult life span.

Keywords

body image development life course perspective self-discrepancy theory latent growth modeling retrospective older women

Introduction

During the adult life span, women experience physical, social, psychological, and biological changes. These changes, such as weight gain, marriage, pregnancy, social role changes, retirement, and menopause, can significantly impact how a woman perceives her body and appearance (Grogan, 2016; Kamysheva, Skouteris, Wertheim, Paxton, & Milgrom, 2008; McKinley & Lyon, 2008). Despite the large volume of body image research, few studies have examined and compared women’s body images at different life points of adult development using a cross-sectional or longitudinal research design. To expand our understanding of the development of women’s body image, this study used retrospective self-reported data by asking women in late adulthood to recall their past body image from early and middle adulthood. Retrospective data have been utilized frequently in epidemiology studies, especially when taking a life course perspective (Friedenreich, 1994), and there have been a few attempts to adopt the retrospective approach in body image research as well (e.g., Bedford & Johnson, 2006; Schwartz, Phares, Tantleff-Dunn, & Thompson, 1999).

With this study, we attempted to (a) understand how women view their bodies throughout the adult life course, (b) explore patterns of women’s perceptions of their body image development from the life course perspective (Elder, 1994), and (c) identify whether there are distinctive developmental trajectories of women’s retrospective body image perceptions using a latent growth modeling approach. For this study, we adopted some methodological strategies to overcome the limitations and improve the accuracy of retrospective data, as suggested by several researchers. Retrospective self-reported data for anthropometric information, especially for body weight, have been shown to be useful and accurate (Casey et al., 1991; Tamakoshi et al., 2003). Moreover, people tend to remember more salient past experiences with greater accuracy. Given that body image is considered an important concern among women throughout their life course, women may provide fairly accurate information through past recall. In this study, to help participants remember their past experiences and ultimately improve the quality and accuracy of recalled data, participants were asked to refer to their own pictures at each life point we studied in early and middle adulthood when answering the study’s questions.

As mentioned earlier, most of the existing body image development studies have adopted a cross-sectional technique examining differences in body image between individuals in different age groups (e.g., Mellor, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, McCabe, & Ricciardelli, 2010; Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001; Tiggemann & McCourt, 2013). However, the limitation of cross-sectional studies is that the results cannot be interpreted as intraindividual aging effects. The different age groups represent generations that may differ in their experience of social/cultural pressures on body image. For example, older women in their 60s during the 2000s and 2010s were surrounded by media when they were younger adults that idealized a slightly fuller body size than is prevalent in media today. Spitzer, Henderson, and Zivian (1999) demonstrated that the chasm between the average woman’s self-perceived body shape and societal standards for the ideal body has become larger over the last several decades since the 1950s, especially in terms of body weight and size. Thus, the results of a cross-sectional study may be impacted more by historical changes in ideal body shape rather than effects of aging (Grogan, 2016, p. 154). There have been only a few attempts at assessing women’s body image throughout the adult life span using a longitudinal research design (e.g., Heatherton, Mahamedi, Striepe, Field, & Keel, 1997; Keel, Baxter, Heatherton, & Joiner, 2007). Longitudinal designs are difficult to conduct over several decades due to the loss of participants over time and the extensive delay before complete findings are obtained. In addition, no published study has been conducted to explore women’s body image throughout the entire adult life course.

Life Course Perspective

Life course perspective, also known as life course theory, refers to a multidisciplinary paradigm for the study of people’s lives within social, structural, and cultural contexts (Elder, 1994; Elder, Johnson, & Crosnoe, 2003). This theoretical perspective has been applied in social and behavioral sciences to understand the developmental trajectories of behavior, attitudes, experiences, and characteristics of individuals as they age and how these trajectories are influenced by history, social structure, and cultural environment (Dirlam & Zheng, 2017; Ferrer, Grenier, Brotman, & Koehn, 2017; Kok, 2007; Mortimer & Shanahan, 2003). Life course perspective focuses on stability and change in patterns over the life course to explore how an individual’s characteristics or experiences at a younger age are related to the outcomes that can be observed in the individual’s later life (Dannefer, 2003; Hareven, 1994). In body image development research, life course perspective has been used as a theoretical framework to explore age effects on several aspects of body image and its outcomes, such as body satisfaction, the importance of body shape and weight, dieting frequency, and eating disorder symptoms, as well as to identify major events and factors that can affect changes in body image (Devine, Bove, Olson, 2000; Liechty & Yarnal, 2010; Tiggemann, 2004).

Body Image Throughout the Adult Life Course

In general, women are more interested in and concerned about their appearance than are men (Striegel-Moore et al., 2009). Although both men and women experience significant body changes throughout their life span, body changes are usually more salient for women. In many cultures, women are judged by their appearance more harshly than are men, as women are objectified and gain value through their physical beauty (Bordo, 1993; Buote, Wilson, Strahan, Gazzola, & Papps, 2011). Moreover, in contemporary westernized societies, beauty ideals generally emphasize youthful appearance, and women therefore consider aging to have negative impacts on appearance (Calasanti, Sorense, & King, 2012; Hurd Clarke & Korotchenko, 2012). Youthfulness prevails as highly valued, while old age represents physical and cognitive degradation and decline (Calasanti, 2003). Recent evidence has confirmed the considerably high level of body concerns among older women consistent with notions of perceived decline (Hurd Clarke, Repta, & Griffin, 2007; Jankowski, Diedrichs, Williamson, Harcourt, & Christopher, 2016). As western women age, they fail at two crucial constructs of their gendered role: beauty and youthfulness demands. These perceived failures can have profound impact on identity formation during aging.

Throughout the adult life span, most women experience significant changes in their body size, weight, and shape (Grogan, 2016; Montemurro & Gillen, 2013). Accordingly, women’s perceptions of their body shape may also change. Some evidence has supported this notion; however, no consistent findings exist in the current literature (see Heatherton et al., 1997; Lamb, Jackson, Cassiday, & Priest, 1993; Ogden, Fryar, Carroll, & Flegal, 2004; Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001). According to national data, average body weight and body mass index (BMI) scores among women in young and middle adulthood increased between 1960 and 2002, and middle-aged women have significantly larger perceptions of their actual body shapes than do younger women (Ogden et al., 2004). In contrast to these trends of increasing body weight and size from early to middle adulthood, many women lose weight during late adulthood (Miller & Wolfe, 2008; Newman et al., 2001; Soysal et al., 2018).

A woman’s perceived ideal body shape may also change as she ages (Lamb et al., 1993). During early and middle adulthood, women may consider a heavier body shape as more ideal compared to ideals held when they were adolescents, because most women experience significant weight gain during the two adulthood life points (Lamb et al., 1993; Larson et al., 2018; Stevens & Tiggemann, 1998). Hence, a heavier ideal body shape might be a more realistic expectation for adult women. In a 10-year longitudinal body image development study, Heatherton et al. (1997) reported that about 55% of female college students who considered themselves overweight in 1982 categorized themselves as having average weight in 1992, even though they had gained an average of 4 pounds during the 10 years following college. However, even though women’s perceptions of both actual and ideal body shape significantly change as they age, most women at any age perceive their current body size to be larger than their ideal (Lewis & Cachelin, 2001; Öberg & Tornstam, 2001). Tiggemann (2004) proposed that actual/ideal body image discrepancy in every age category shows similar levels of differences between actual and ideal body size.

Not only does a woman’s body show significant changes over the adult life span, but also the importance of physical appearance and attractiveness diminishes for women as they age (Karazsia, Murnen, & Tylka, 2017). That is, while younger women place a higher value on their physical appearance, concerns of middle-aged and older women are likely to shift somewhat to physical functioning (Reboussin et al., 2000). In a qualitative study, older women have been found to have substantial fear and anxiety about decline of physical functioning but also may have feelings of pleasure in exercise and pride in competence in functioning (Bennett, Hurd Clarke, Kowalski, & Crocker, 2017). In addition, shifting to emphasis on physical functioning might be another reason why middle-aged women have a heavier ideal body shape than do younger women (Montemurro & Gillen, 2013). As women age and find that body ideals are less achievable and that weight gain is common among women in their age-group, their focus may shift to more crucial body goals, such as physical functioning.

Studies of body image to date have found that women tend to show similar levels of body satisfaction from early to middle adulthood (Bessenoff & Del Priore, 2007; Grogan, 2016; Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001). This is somewhat surprising in our youth-obsessed society, considering the changes that the body goes through during aging. In contrast, there is conflicting evidence that women may have a more positive or more negative body image as they move into older ages (Cash & Henry, 1995; Franzoi & Koehler, 1998). Franzoi and Koehler (1998) compared attitudes related to bodily function and facial attractiveness between a younger group (mean age = 19 years) and an older group (mean age = 74 years) and found that the older adult group had less positive attitudes about both aspects of the body. However, they also reported opposite findings in women’s perceived level of body satisfaction in terms of their appetite, thighs, and weight. Developmental changes in body satisfaction throughout women’s adult life span may depend on specific aspects of focus (Franzoi & Koehler, 1998). An individual may not like or may not be pleased with a certain aspect of the body but may be satisfied with the aspect within the context of aging.

Actual/Ideal Body Image Discrepancy and Body Satisfaction

The theory of self-discrepancy explains the unique relationships between specific types of self-discrepancy and negative psychological situations, primarily focusing on the types of self-discrepancy that relate to varying types of emotional discomfort (Higgins, 1987; Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1985). As a conceptual framework, the theory of self-discrepancy has been adopted in several body image studies (e.g., Bessenoff, 2006; Halliwell & Dittmar, 2006). Actual/ideal body image discrepancy, that is, the difference between perceptions of actual versus ideal, can influence body image satisfaction, emotional responses to appearance, and behavioral changes related to the body. Women with higher body image discrepancy are vulnerable to more negative mood states, higher levels of body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, and increased levels of depressive symptoms (Bessenoff, 2006).

Research Hypotheses

Based on previous research of adult women’s body image development, five hypotheses were generated for this study. Because of the inconsistent findings in previous studies on women’s body image across the adult life span, Hypotheses 1 through 4 are stated as null hypotheses. Based on self-discrepancy theory, Hypothesis 5 was generated regarding the association between actual/ideal body image discrepancy and body satisfaction.

H1₀: The trajectory of women’s perceptions of their actual body shape throughout the adult life course shows no change, remaining stable from early to late adulthood.

H2₀: The trajectory of women’s perceptions of ideal body shape throughout the adult life course shows no change, remaining stable from early to late adulthood.

H3₀: The trajectory of women’s perceived actual/ideal body image discrepancy throughout the adult life course shows no change, remaining stable from early to late adulthood.

H4₀: The trajectory of women’s perceived level of body satisfaction throughout the adult life course shows no change, remaining stable from early to late adulthood.

H5: Actual/ideal body image discrepancy negatively relates to body satisfaction in women’s early (H5a), middle (H5b), and late adulthood (H5c).

Method

Sample and Data Collection

Women aged 65 years and older were recruited from 15 senior communities and centers in a Midwest U.S. state. As this study used retrospective data, only women without memory impairment problems were invited to participate. Among the 203 older women asked to participate in the study, 177 women voluntarily picked up survey questionnaires. They individually completed the questionnaires and returned them to the administrator of each location. Two weeks after the survey distribution, the researcher visited each location to pick up the completed questionnaires. A total of 107 questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 52.7%. After five cases with more than 15% missing items on all research variables were eliminated (Hair, Celsi, Money, Samouel, & Page, 2011), a total of 102 completed questionnaires were retained for further analysis.

All participants were White/European American females aged 65 years and older, with a mean age of 80. The largest percentage of participants was aged 75 to 84 years (48%), followed by individuals aged 85 to 94 years (26.5%) and 65 to 74 years (25.5%). The education level for the participants was high, due to collection of data in geographic areas near a state university and several private universities and the income required to maintain residence in the living centers sampled; 51% had completed at least some college. The mean of the BMI scores was 26.8 (SD = 5.7), in the overweight range.

As this study included participants with a wide age range from 65 to 94 years old, the age effects on all research variables were examined. Participants were divided into three groups based on their age: young-old (65–74 years), old-old (75–84 years), and oldest-old (85 years and over, Fornara, Doehn, Frese, & Jocham, 2001). A series of a one-way between-groups analysis of variance were conducted to examine the differences in each research variable among three age groups. The results revealed no significant group difference in all examined variables, confirming that the sample of this study can be considered as one group of old women.

Measures

The paper-based questionnaire included scale rating questions. To measure participants’ body image in each of the three adult life phases—early, middle, and late adulthood—the same body image measures were repeatedly used. To help participants remember and improve the accuracy of responses recalled from previous decades, they were asked to refer to pictures of themselves at each life point. On the first page of the questionnaire, the following statements were incorporated:

Before you begin this survey, we strongly recommend you find some picture of yourself from when you were about 30 and about 50 years of age and use them as a reference. These may help you recall your past feelings and ideas regarding your body.

No more detailed direction, such as the number and type of pictures, was provided. Pictures were used as facilitation to retrieve memories because reviewing pictures can stimulate memory of past feelings and events (Koutstaal, Schacter, Johnson, Angell, & Gross, 1998; Snelgrove & Havitz, 2010; Zelizer, 2002). A majority of the participants (n = 73, 71.6%) indicated that they were able to find and refer to pictures of themselves when they were about 30 and 50 years old. A majority of the participants reported that it was easy to recall their past perceptions about their bodies during that period of time—n = 93 (91.2%) and n = 84 (82.4%), respectively.

Measures included perceived actual and ideal body shape, actual/ideal body image discrepancy, and body satisfaction. To assess women’s perceived actual and ideal body shape, the Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorensen, & Shulsinger, 1983) was adopted. An actual/ideal body image discrepancy score was calculated by subtracting the participant’s perceived ideal body shape score from her perceived actual body shape score for each of the three life points. To assess the perceived levels of body satisfaction, participants were asked to answer the following questions: “How satisfied are [were] you with each of the following aspects of your body nowadays [or when you were about 30/50 years old]?”

As this study used retrospective data, we acknowledge that it might be difficult for older women to recall how they perceived specific parts of their bodies several decades ago. Thus, questions regarding satisfaction levels with general, rather than highly specific, body aspects were employed. Five body aspects were included in this study. Four of these—physical appearance, body size and shape, body weight, and physical attractiveness—were borrowed from the Body Image States Scale (BISS; Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002). One item—physical functioning—was added due to its importance in body image development research. The five items were rated by participants on a 9-point Likert-type scale, ranging from extremely dissatisfied (1) to extremely satisfied (9).

Participants were also asked to provide background information, including date of birth, ethnicity, education level, height, and weight. Reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI (= $weight [in lbs .] \times 703 \div {height}^{2} [in inches]$ ).

To evaluate face and content validities, a pilot test was conducted with four women over 65 years old. The appropriateness and relevance to the corresponding constructs of all items were confirmed, ensuring content validity. Due to criticisms of the Figure Rating Scale (e.g., Cafri, van den Berg, & Brannick, 2010; Gardner & Brown, 2010), both the Figure Rating Scale and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (Thompson & Gray, 1995) were included in the pilot test. All pilot participants mentioned that the figures in the Figure Rating Scale look simpler and easier for them to choose from in accordance with their past body shape. Hence, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale was eliminated from the final survey. We recognize that the Figure Rating Scale may not include precise size differentials between each figure, but precise perceptions of body measurements were not of issue in this study.

Model Development and Data Analysis

We developed eight unconditional first-order latent growth models (1LGMs) to examine trajectories of change in all body image measures (Model 1: Perceived actual body shape, Model 2: Perceived ideal body shape, Model 3: Perceived actual/ideal body image discrepancy, Model 4: Satisfaction with physical appearance, Model 5: Satisfaction with body size and shape, Model 6: Satisfaction with body weight, Model 7: Satisfaction with physical attractiveness, Model 8: Satisfaction with physical functioning). LGM analysis has gained increasing attention as a powerful approach to longitudinal data analysis. As a special application of structural equation modeling, LGM can be the most appropriate model to examine trajectories of quantitative change in outcome variables. A graphical representation of the LGM is presented in Figure 1. The loadings from the latent intercept variable to the observed variables were set to 1, indicating the starting point for growth. The loadings from the latent slope variable to the observed variables were set in a linear sequence from 0 to 2, beginning with the variable at Time 1. The loading from each residual to its observed variable was set to one. The means of residual factors and the intercepts of the observed variables from Time 1 through Time 3 were set to zero. The means and variances for the latent intercept and slope variables were set for estimation by the model—IMean and IVariance for intercept and SMean and SVariance for slope. The covariances between the latent intercept and slope variables were set for estimation.

Figure 1.

Unconditional fist-order latent growth model specification with three time waves in the adult life span.

Preliminary analyses, including frequencies, missing data analysis, and correlations, were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0. For model testing, unconditional 1LGM analysis was adopted using AMOS. Overall fit measures, including chi-squared statistics, normed fit index (NFI), incremental fit index (IFI), Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), comparative fit index (CFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and standardized root mean residual (SRMR), were adopted to assess how well the model corresponds to the data as a whole. Models with the fit statistics greater than .95 for NFI, IFI, TLI, and CFI, and below .05 for RMSEA and SRMR were considered a good fit. Values ranging from .90 to .94 for NFI, IFI, TLI, and CFI and values ranging from .06 to .08 for RMSEA and SRMR indicated an acceptable fit (Byrne, 2010; Hu & Bentler, 1999).

Results

To test Hypotheses 1 through 4, eight unconditional 1LGMs were examined. When fit indices provided poor support for a hypothesized model, the modified model was estimated based on the modification indices. All final models showed a good fit to the data. Fit indices of eight 1LGMs for each body image variable are presented in Table 1. Parameter estimates for each model are shown in Table 2. To test Hypotheses 5a to 5c, correlation analysis was performed.

Table 1.

Fit Indices for Eight Unconditional 1LGMs.

Model	χ²	df	NFI	IFI	TLI	CFI	RMSEA	SRMR
Model 1	3.19 (p = .20)	2	.95	.98	.97	.98	.08	.04
Model 2	4.30 (p = .23)	3	.93	.98	.98	.98	.07	.03
Model 3	1.5 (p = .47)	2	.96	1.00	1.00	1.00	.00	.03
Model 4	5.65 (p = .34)	5	.90	.99	.99	.99	.04	.03
Model 5	2.71 (p = .44)	3	.95	1.00	1.00	1.00	.00	.02
Model 6	2.06 (p = .56)	3	.96	1.00	1.00	1.00	.00	.03
Model 7	3.10 (p = .38)	3	.94	1.00	1.00	1.00	.02	.03
Model 8	1.25 (p = .73)	3	.98	1.00	1.00	1.00	.00	.02

NFI = normed fit index; IFI = incremental fit index; TLI = Tucker–Lewis index; CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; SRMR = standardized root mean square residual.

Table 2.

Parameter Estimates for Eight Unconditional 1LGMs.

Model	Intercept		Slope		Covariance		SMC
Model	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	T1, T2, T3
Model 1
Mean	3.52***	.09	.67***	.07	.05	.07	37%, 57%, 74%
Variance	.30*	.12	.23*	.08	.05	.07	37%, 57%, 74%
Model 2
Mean	3.40***	.06	.44***	.05	.14***	.04	5%, 45%, 64%
Variance	.02	.07	.03	.04	.14***	.04	5%, 45%, 64%
Model 3
Mean	.16*	.06	.24***	.05	.03	.06	10%, 40%, 49%
Variance	.05	.11	.06	.06	.03	.06	10%, 40%, 49%
Model 4
Mean	5.98***	.16	−.44***	.09	−.02	.19	44%, 44%, 44%
Variance	1.21***	.41	.00	–	−.02	.19	44%, 44%, 44%
Model 5
Mean	5.89***	.16	−.47***	.09	−.12	.20	49%, 44%, 40%
Variance	1.45***	.42	.02	.15	−.12	.20	49%, 44%, 40%
Model 6
Mean	5.86***	.18	−.62***	010	−.40	.25	53%, 45%, 44%
Variance	1.89***	.50	.26	.19	−.40	.25	53%, 45%, 44%
Model 7
Mean	5.98***	.16	−.44***	.09	−.27	.19	55%, 47%, 45%
Variance	1.52***	.39	.15	.14	−.27	.19	55%, 47%, 45%
Model 8
Mean	6.8***	.17	−.72***	.11	−.47*	.23	60%, 55%, 67%
Variance	1.81***	.42	.65**	.20	−.47*	.23	60%, 55%, 67%

Note. T1 = early adulthood; T2 = middle adulthood; T3 = late adulthood; SMC = squared multiple correlation.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Model 1: Perceived Actual Body Shape

The modified model, with an additional path from the variables measured at Time 1 to Time 2, revealed a good fit to the data. The women’s perceived actual body shape significantly and linearly increased throughout their adult life span. The significant variance in the intercept indicated that each woman’s perception varied considerably around the mean with regard to her actual body image during early adulthood. A significant variance in the slope represented significant individual variability in the rate of change in perceived actual body shape over time. However, nonsignificant covariance between the initial status and growth rate indicated that most women’s perceived body size increased as they aged, regardless of their body size at early adulthood. The direct path from the variables measured at Time 1 to Time 2 revealed a significant positive association between the variables (β = .06, Critical Ratio [CR] = 2.32, p < .05). Thus, H1₀ was not supported.

Model 2: Perceived Ideal Body Shape

Participants’ perceived ideal body shape significantly increased from early to late adulthood, via a linear functional form. Nonsignificant variances in the intercept and slope represented no individual variability in the linearly increasing function. A significant positive covariance between the intercept and slope indicated that a larger ideal body shape in early adulthood was associated with higher rates of increase in women’s perceptions about ideal body shape throughout the adult life span; thus, H2₀ was rejected.

Model 3: Perceived Actual/Ideal Body Image Discrepancy

After adding a direct path from the variable measured at Time 1 to Time 2, the modified model revealed a good fit to the data. The level of perceived actual/ideal body image discrepancy significantly increased during the adult life span. The variances for both the intercept and slope indicated no significant individual variability in the initial level and rate of change over time. The direct path from the variables measured at Time 1 to Time 2 revealed a significant positive association between the variables (β = .37, CR = 2.52, p < .05). Thus, H3₀ was not supported.

Perceived Level of Body Satisfaction

Five 1LGMs on each body satisfaction item were separately examined for better understandings of the age effects on women’s perceived levels of body satisfaction. All models revealed a good fit to the data and significant decreasing trajectories over time. Thus, H4₀ was rejected.

Model 4: Satisfaction With Physical Appearance

Women’s perceived satisfaction with their physical appearance significantly decreased with age. Examination of the intercept and slope variances indicated significant individual heterogeneity around the mean level at early adulthood; however, there was no individual difference in the rate of change over time.

Model 5: Satisfaction With Body Size and Shape

The intercept and slope means indicated a significant linear decline trend over time. However, the estimated model exhibited statistically significant variance for the intercept, demonstrating individual variability in body size and shape satisfaction at early adulthood and the possibility of model improvement.

Model 6: Satisfaction With Body Weight

The intercept and slope means indicated that women’s perceived level of satisfaction with body weight decreased linearly with age. The intercept variance was statistically significant, revealing that individuals differed in their initial level of body weight satisfaction. However, no individual differences in their rates of decrease were found.

Model 7: Satisfaction With Physical Attractiveness

The mean estimates for both intercept and slope growth factors returned statistically significant values. An average level of satisfaction with physical attractiveness significantly declined over time, and significant variation existed only in the intercept.

Model 8: Satisfaction With Physical Functioning

The results revealed a significant decreasing trajectory in satisfaction with physical functioning over the course of the women’s adult lives. The significant variation in both the intercept and slope represented significant individual differences in the initial status and growth trajectories. A significant and negative covariance between the intercept and slope indicated that a higher level of satisfaction with physical functioning in early adulthood was associated with its lower rates of decreasing trajectory throughout the adult life course.

Actual/Ideal Body Image Discrepancy and Body Satisfaction

All correlations between the actual/ideal body image discrepancy and five body satisfaction items throughout the adult life span were negative. During early adulthood, actual/ideal body image discrepancy was significantly and negatively associated only with body weight satisfaction (r = −.27, p < .01; H5a was partially supported). Actual/ideal body image discrepancy revealed significant and negative correlations with all five body satisfaction items at the p < .05 level or better during middle adulthood (r = −.36, p < .001 for physical appearance satisfaction, r = −.35, p < .001 for body size and shape satisfaction, r = −.42, p < .001 for body weight satisfaction, r = −.33, p < .01 for physical attractiveness satisfaction, and r = −.23, p < .05 for physical functioning satisfaction; H5b was supported). During late adulthood, significant and negative correlations were found between actual/ideal body image discrepancy and three body satisfaction items—satisfaction with physical appearance (r = −.27, p < .01), body size and shape (r = −.30, p < .01), and body weight (r = −.37, p < .001). Thus, H5c was partially supported.

Discussion

Women’s ideal body shape perceptions were found to change less over time than their actual body shape perceptions. The positive slope for the perceived actual body shape trajectory was steeper than the slope for the perceived ideal body shape trajectory, meaning that actual body shape was likely to be further from the women’s ideal body shape as they aged, even though their ideal body shapes increased in size as they aged. In congruence with the increasing trajectory in actual/ideal body image discrepancy, lower levels of body satisfaction were found at the later points of the adult life span. As the gap between the actual and ideal body shape increased, women became less satisfied with their bodies with age.

The findings of this study advanced understanding of women’s perceived retrospective body satisfaction throughout the adult life span in regard to within-person age changes. Regarding age effects on women’s body satisfaction, there have been conflicting findings in previous research; women’s body image has been found to remain stable, increase, or decrease over time (Franzoi & Koehler, 1998; Grogan, 2016). Furthermore, among the numerous studies in the current body image literature, relatively few studies have investigated women across the entire adult life span. All of the cross-sectional studies found that women across all age groups did not differ in terms of their body satisfaction (e.g., Allaz, Bernstein, Rouget, Archinard, & Morabia, 1998; Cash & Henry, 1995; Garner, 1997).

In addition, few studies to date have investigated how women’s body satisfaction changed during adulthood using a longitudinal approach. In contrast to the previous findings of consistency in body satisfaction across the adult life span, a 20-year longitudinal study examining developmental changes in body satisfaction in both women and men found a significant decline in weight satisfaction in women from college age to 10- and 20-year follow-ups (Keel et al., 2007). Consistent with their findings, the results of this study revealed the decreasing trajectories in body satisfaction. The contrasting results compared to the previous cross-sectional studies might have occurred because this study traced perceived retrospective changes in several aspects of body satisfaction within the same individuals throughout the entire adult life span.

In support of previous research (e.g., Lewis & Cachelin, 2001; Lokken, Ferraro, Kirchner, Bowling, 2003; Öberg & Tornstam, 2001), the women in this study tended to hold ideal body shapes that were thinner than their current bodies. Body image discrepancy always revealed positive scores over the three life points, indicating that most women in this study had always perceived themselves as physically larger than they desired to be.

A value for the squared multiple correlations (SMC) in LGM indicates how much variation in a measure can be explained by the latent growth trajectory. When a low value of the SMC is detected in a measure for a particular time period, further investigation may be required to identify what occurred during that period and explain the departure from the trajectory pattern. In this study, one variable—ideal body shape—had an apparently low value for the SMC at the point of early adulthood, compared to middle and late adulthood. This might occur because the sample included participants covering a wide age range, from 65 to 94 years.

The variances in and covariances between the intercept and slope factors in LGMs have interesting implications. Significant variances in the intercept and slope of the perceived actual body shape and nonsignificant variances for the intercept and slope of both the ideal body shape and the actual/ideal body image discrepancy indicate that, regardless of the body shapes they had during early adulthood and how much their body shapes had changed over time, women considered a thin body shape to be ideal and wanted to be about one size thinner (on the Figure Rating Scale) than their actual body throughout the entire adult life span. Furthermore, significant and positive covariance between the intercept and slope for the selected ideal body shape implies a steeper increasing trend among those who had a larger ideal body shape during early adulthood.

Variances in the intercept of all five body satisfaction variables were significant, and all variances in the slope of body satisfaction variables, except satisfaction with physical functioning, were nonsignificant. This implies that, regardless of how satisfied women were with their bodies in terms of physical appearance, body shape and size, body weight, and physical attractiveness during early adulthood, their levels of body satisfaction significantly decreased over time. Only for satisfaction with physical functioning was a significant negative covariance found between the intercept and slope, indicating that those who were more dissatisfied with their physical functioning when they were younger tended to experience a steeper decline in their satisfaction levels over time.

For older women, the level of body satisfaction may not directly influence concomitant emotional and behavioral changes. Levels of body satisfaction have been found to be negatively associated with depression, eating disorders, and risky appearance management behaviors; specifically, women with lower levels of body satisfaction are more likely to be at risk of depression and the development of eating disorders than women who are satisfied with their bodies (Benas, Uhrlass, Gibb, 2010; Keel et al., 2007). If women become less satisfied with their bodies as they age, the risk of these negative concomitant results may also increase with age. However, women have been found to be more frequently involved with risky dieting behaviors and disordered eating behaviors earlier in the life span rather than at midlife (Keel et al., 2007). This could reflect the fact that older women may tend to cope with their body dissatisfaction in different ways, such as adjustment to more age-appropriate body ideals or comparisons of the self to real, like-age individuals. Ogle and Damhorst (2005) found a pattern of relativistic body acceptance among women transitioning into their middle-aged years.

This study makes both theoretical and methodological contributions to the literature on body image development. Supporting Liechty and Yarnal’s (2010) argument, the findings validate the strengths of the application of the life course perspective for the study of body image development. The results of this study reflect that women’s retrospective body image perceptions over the adult life span develop and change with aging. Self-discrepancy theory was also supported by the findings that women’s retrospective perceptions of body image discrepancy were closely related to their levels of body satisfaction throughout the adult life course.

The longitudinal, retrospective approach provides methodological contributions. The results of this study suggest that retrospective data obtained by asking older women to recall their past can be a useful method for body image development research. The results were consistent with previous longitudinal research (Heatherton et al., 1997; Keel et al., 2007). This study also expands our knowledge of women’s body image development by tracing the developmental changes of body image within the same individuals throughout the entire adult life course.

The generalizability of the findings is limited due to the sample characteristics and recall bias. The sample only included older Caucasian women with relatively higher education levels than the general population. Research has consistently found ethnic/racial differences in body image because an individual’s body image usually depends on the social and cultural context in which she lives. Women in different cultural contexts may vary in their beliefs about the ideal body shape (Grabe & Hyde, 2006). For example, in the United States, Black women tend to prefer larger body sizes and have greater body satisfaction compared to White women (Lovejoy, 2001; Oney, Cole, & Sellers, 2011). Also, previous studies have demonstrated a significant association between socioeconomic status and body image (Ciciurkaite & Perry, 2018; Reboussin et al., 2000). Women in higher socioeconomic status are likely to have lower body satisfaction than their lower socioeconomic status counterparts (McLaren & Kuh, 2004). Further research with a more diverse sample of women would help to expand the understanding of women’s body image development. The intersectionality of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class, sexual and gender identity, and culture is an essential focus of future research that seeks further understanding of aging and appearance (cf. Tyner & Ogle, 2009).

Even though this study adopted some methodological strategies to reduce errors and bias of retrospective data, the problem of recall bias cannot be ignored. Memory of actual body size and levels of body satisfaction may be influenced by recall bias (Berney & Blane, 1997; Friedenreich, 1994) because memories can be altered and reconstructed, based on an individual’s current attitudes and affective states (Levine, Prohaska, Burgess, Rice, & Laulhere, 2001). To avoid the effects of memory problems, older women who did not currently have memory impairment problems were recruited for this study. However, mental and physical health issues for both the current and earlier time points were not considered for this study. For example, depression and eating disorders at any of the time points considered in this study could influence women’s body image memories. Also, the results of this study should be interpreted with the caution because the participants asked to recall their past body image with the reference photos of themselves both at early and middle adulthood. Comparisons of the body image between photos from different life stages may influence their recalled memories.

Future studies investigating several different generations should be conducted to identify aging effects on body image development. This study, focusing solely on women aged 65 years and older, cannot provide valid information across all generations. In addition, comparison of women in early versus older stages of older age could be considered. With the sample of this study, there was no significant difference in all research variables among three age groups, showing the homogeneous of the sample, so that women aged 65 to 94 years were analyzed as one group. However, in general, ideal body shape memories recalled by older women could include a variety of ideal body shapes which represent changing historical standards of ideal body shape over three decades. Also, it should be noted that the changes a person experiences every 5 to 10 years during the stages of later life might be as great as the changes occurring during longer spans across younger ages. Other variables impacting women’s body image perceptions, such as chronic diseases, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and physical activity, should be considered in future studies. Even though it is highly difficult to conduct actual longitudinal research over at least five decades throughout women’s life course, such data would be an ideal resource to understanding the effects of aging on women’s body image perceptions.

From the findings of this study, it is apparent that decline in body satisfaction is common among women during the aging process. Our findings lead us to echo Hurd Clarke and Korotchenko’s (2012) conclusions, that “a woman’s experience of growing older is a deeply embodied process” (p. 114). Although Hurd Clarke and Korotchenko give qualitative insights into how dissatisfaction with the aging body is related to how women do beauty and feel about the body, further research into the life span process, both qualitative and quantitative, is warranted.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Minsun Lee

Author Biographies

Minsun Lee, PhD, is a researcher in the Center for Perception and Behavioral Research at Incheon National University and a lecturer at Korea University. Her research focuses on the social media and development of positive body image.

Mary Lynn Damhorst, PhD, is a retired professor emerita from the Department of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management at Iowa State University. Her research endeavors involve examining aging and sociocultural influences on body image. Media representations of aging have also been her research focus.

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