Relationship Between Self-Reported Weight Management and Perceived Norms of Weight Management in Scholastic Wrestlers Sara J
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Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine DigitalCommons@PCOM PCOM Psychology Dissertations Student Dissertations, Theses and Papers 2004 Relationship between Self-Reported Weight Management and Perceived Norms of Weight Management in Scholastic Wrestlers Sara J. Camaerei Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/psychology_dissertations Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Camaerei, Sara J., "Relationship between Self-Reported Weight Management and Perceived Norms of Weight Management in Scholastic Wrestlers" (2004). PCOM Psychology Dissertations. Paper 21. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Dissertations, Theses and Papers at DigitalCommons@PCOM. It has been accepted for inclusion in PCOM Psychology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@PCOM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Department of Psychology THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF·REPORTED WEIGHT MANAGEMENT AND PERCEIVED NORMS OF WEIGHT MANAGEMENT IN SCHOLASTIC WRESTLERS bySara J. Camaerei Submitted in partial fulfillment of the . Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology July 2004 PHILADELPHIAPHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY Dissertation Approval This is to certify thatthat t~sis presented to10 us by J~MA <::ih"~At "'"t.1!-£1t. te~1 011on thethe 2ptl2;fH day of VU(J.JJ~'u,1.J) ~ ,20 IJd if, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for thethe degree of Doctor of Psychology, has been examined and is acceptable in both scholarship and literary quality.quality, Committee Members' Signatures: Steven Godin, Ph.D., Chairperson Stuart Badner, Psy.D. Anthony L. Drago, Ed.D. Arthur Freeman, Ed.D., ABPP, Chair, Department of Psychology iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who have been instrumental in this research that I cannot fail to mention. My husband, AI, and my children, Anthony, A1lyson, and Alex, have been especially supportive and understanding throughout many years of study and this dissertation process. Thank you sincerely for all your support and help along the way; I will always be grateful and truly appreciative for all you have done. I don't know what I would have done without any of you. Thanks, AI, for sharing with me your knowledge of wrestling and thoughts about weight management and wrestlers. You gave me the inspiration for this study, and gave me much needed help throughout the process .. Thanks to Anthony and Alex for listening to me talk incessantly about the research and at least pretending to be interested. Thanks, Ally, for helping put together 200 packets of surveys. You did a great job. My parents, Jacqueline and Edward Hunsicker, have also been :nothing but supportive and encouraging in this endeavor. Thanks for all your patience and help throughout this entire educational process. My committee deserves special thanks. I am particUlarly grateful to Dr. Steven Godin, chairperson, for all his help. He was a great teacher and motivator. I truly commend his patience with all my statistics questions. I am also grateful to Dr. Stuart Badner and Dr. Anthony Drago for their part in this process .. I gratefully appreciate all their suggestions and recommendations. Thanks to the school districts, coaches, and high school wrestlers who chose to participate in this research. Without their cooperation, this research would not have been possible. IV Many friends also contributed support and encouragement during this research. Many thanks to Tony Kraemer, Sandy Kintner, and Helen Shaver for your encouragement and wishes for success. Thank you, Monica Patton, for your help with retrieving articles, proofreading, and being there when I needed to vent. ' And, a special thank you to Dr. E. Christopher Payne from Chestnut Hill College, who once told me, "What makes you think you aren't already?," when I said I wanted to be as good a psychologist and teacher one day as he was. I have never forgotten those words and they have been a great comfort to me during the many challenges I faced during this doctoral program and dissertation research. Finally, to George and Loretta Lee, who unfortunately are no longer with us, looks like you'll finally get that doctor in the family. I only wish you could be here to share in this process. v ABSTRACT Wrestling is unique in that it is the only sport that requires opponents to be matched by weight. Because two athletes at an almost equal weight compete against each other, wrestlers participate at the lowest weight class possible, which frequently leads wrestlers to engage in unhealthy and dangerous weight loss practices. Social normS th,eory suggests that much of an individual's behavior is influenced by perceptions of how members of a social group think and act. If these perceptions are inaccurate, and' over-estimates ofthe unhealthy behaviors of others occur, an individual is likely to engage in such behaviors himself. One hundred and twenty-eight wrestlers from northeastern Pennsylvania public high schools completed a number of surveys about. their weight management practices and their perception of their teammates' weight management practices. Principal-Component factor analyses were utilized to identify common factors that explain the pattern of correlations within the set of variables. Bivariate correlations and subsequent Paired-sample T-tests and independent T -tests were utilized to compare factor dimensions. As expected, this study demonstrated that scholastic wrestlers do utilize,health-relevant weight management and perceive that their teammates engage in such behaviors as well. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction 1 The Sport ofWrestling ...... ,....................................... ~ ...................... 1 Weight Management ................... '. .. .. .. .... ... ... 4 Weight Loss Methods .................................................................. 5 . , Complications Associated with Weight Management. ................. ,' ................... 7 History of Concern about Weight Management. ......... :. .. ... .. ... .. .. 10 Reasons for Continued Weight Management. ......................................... 12 Adolescence .. , ................................................. t ••••• It ••••••••••••••••••••• 15 . Social Attachment ........ , ............. , . .. 17 Group Nonns ............................ 'i ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 18 Reference Group Theory ................................................................ 19 Social Identity and Self-Categorization Theories............ .. ............... ~ .... 20 . Social Comparison Theory ........................ : ....................... ~ ................ 21 Social Influence Theory .................................................................. 22 Group Attraction .........., ..................................... '....... ".. '.' . .. ..... II' 24 Group Confonn.ity ............................ , ............................ '.............. 25 Misperceptions and Biases in Perception ............................................. 28 ) Social NOfIl:ls. Theory ..... 1,1 ••• , •••••••••••••• , ••••••••••• t ••••••••••• , I • ~ ~ ........... •• ". 31 Social Norms Research .................................................................. 32 Putpose of Study .. ,. II •• , • ••.• ••••••••• II II. II ., •• II •••• II •• II. II." •••• II. II II •• 1,." ••• ,, 36 Hypotheses ................................................................................... 36 . Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................· ......... 38 Participants .................................. ·................................. .. ...... 38 Participant Demographics........................................... ..... 39 Years Wrestling ............................................................ 39 Weight Classes .............................................................. 40 "Making" Weight Class ................................................... 40 Win/Loss Records ........................................................... 41 Past Accomplishments ..................................................... 41 Goals .......................................................................... 41 Post-season Participation ...........................- ........................ 42 Study Design .......................................................................... 42 Description of Measures ............................................................. 43. vii Procedure .............................................................................. 45 Coding .. ~ .......... , ............. , .. II ••••••••••••• , •••••• t •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 47 Statistical Anal.Ysis .................................................................. 48 Chapter 3: Results .............................................................................. 53 Factor Analysis of "Self-report Weight Management Questionnaire" .................................... , ..................... , ..... 56 Factor Analysis of "Perceived Norms Weight Management . Questionnaire" ................................................... ~ ............ 58 Factor Analysis of Eating Attitudes Test-26 ......................................60 Factor Analysis of Eating Attitudes Test-26 Revised for Social Nonn.s .................................... II •••••••••••••• , ••••• II •••• '.~: