Abstract
Appearance Commentary (AC), any negative or positive verbal feedback received regarding one's physical appearance (Stormer & Thompson, 1996), experienced at a high frequency has been associated with high levels of body image disturbance (Myers & Rosen, 1999). Less is known about the perceived effects (i.e., perceived severity) of AC. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the frequency and perceived effect of AC, both positive and negative, could predict two health-related behaviours: level of dietary restraint (DR) and vigorous/moderate physical activity (V/M-PA). Participants (N=77) were college-aged women who completed a series of questionnaires. Separate linear regression analyses were conducted to predict V/M-PA and level of DR. Results indicate the overall model accounted for approximately 22.1% of the variance in V/M-PA. The frequency of positive AC (p=.001; ß=1250) and the perceived effect of negative AC (p=.018; ß=785) were significant predictors of V/M-PA, indicating participants who reported a higher frequency of positive AC and perceived greater negative effect from negative AC (i.e., more severe negative comments) had higher predicted levels of V/M-PA. Neither AC frequency nor perceived effects predicted DR. Future studies should explore possible reasons why women who report high amounts of positive feedback tend to have high levels of V/M-PA.
