Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

Spring 4-23-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

April 2026

Department

Psychology

College Granting Degree

Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Department Granting Degree

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Brett Laursen

Abstract

The current study examines bidirectional associations between adolescent body-related concerns and maternal psychological control, and the behavioral mechanism through which these associations operate. Participants were 723 sixth- through ninth-grade students (350 girls, 373 boys; ages 11–15) attending all public middle and secondary schools in a mid-sized Lithuanian community. Self-report surveys were collected at three time points across the course of a school year. Results from full longitudinal mediation models indicated that higher body image dissatisfaction and weight concerns at the beginning of the school year predicted increases in maternal psychological control at the end of the school year, through increases in appearance anxiety behaviors at mid-year. Conversely, higher initial maternal psychological control predicted greater body image dissatisfaction and weight concerns at the end of the school year, through increases in appearance anxiety behaviors at mid-year. Body image dissatisfaction and weight concerns did not directly predict maternal psychological control, nor did maternal psychological control directly predict body image dissatisfaction or weight concerns. Findings highlight how appearance anxiety behaviors function as the explanatory mechanism linking body-related concerns and maternal psychological control, suggesting that interventions teaching parents and clinicians to recognize appearance anxiety behaviors as expressions of distress may interrupt both pathways simultaneously.

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