Pressures to be “shedding for the wedding”: An evaluation of the tripartite influence model of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction among engaged women

Disordered eating and body image concerns are particularly prevalent among women who are engaged to be married (i.e., brides-to-be), and this population may be subject to increased social and cultural pressure to achieve specific appearance ideals. The tripartite influence model purports that appearance pressures from four sources (peers, family, romantic partners, and media) influence body image and disordered eating outcomes through thin ideal internalization and appearance comparison. The present cross-sectional study sought to examine the relationships between tripartite theory constructs, body image, and disordered eating among 329 brides-to-be using path analysis with robust estimation. In the final model, media influence was the only tripartite predictor associated with both thin ideal internalization and appearance comparison. Further, thin ideal internalization and appearance comparison were associated with disordered eating directly as well as indirectly through body dissatisfaction. Altogether, the influence variables explained 39 % of the variance in disordered eating. While appearance pressures from media, peers, and partners were indirectly associated with disordered eating through one or more hypothesized indirect pathways, appearance pressure from family was not, indicating this relationship may be uniquely impacted by other factors not captured in tripartite models. Results suggest that family and media influence are most strongly associated with disordered eating in this group and have the capacity to inform future research as well as intervention development and dissemination.