Mother-daughter negative body talk as a moderator between body surveillance and body shame in adolescent girls

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of mother-daughter communication about their bodies on adolescent girls' and mothers' body shame. Methods The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was utilized to estimate relationships between individuals' body surveillance and their own body shame (actor effect), individuals' body surveillance and the other member's body shame (partner effect), and negative body talk and both members' body shame (relationship effect) in a sample of 100 mother-daughter dyads. Results For both mothers and daughters, individuals who had higher body surveillance reported higher body shame. Negative body talk emerged as a significant moderator: girls with higher body surveillance experienced greater body shame when they engaged in more negative body talk with their mothers. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for clinicians to address mothers' own surveillance and body shame, as well as negative body talk between mothers and daughters, in interventions that seek to reduce the impact of objectification on body shame in adolescents.