Within-person changes in drive for thinness: A longitudinal study on the predicative effect of actual and reflected body figures and self-esteem in adolescent girls

Body figure and self-esteem represent main risk factors for drive for thinness (DT). The present longitudinal study explored how changes across one year on DT subscale of Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI-2) co-vary with intra-personal changes in body figures self-perceptions and global and reflected self-esteem, in adolescent girls. Results show that increases in EDI-2 DT co-vary with intra-individual increases in adipose body figure self-perceptions and decreases in reflected self-esteem. Overall, the present findings confirm the relevance of body figure self-perception and suggest the role of reflected self-esteem in long-term changes of drive for thinness.