Female athletes have been identified as a population at risk for disordered eating, and a recent theoretical model (Petrie & Greenleaf, in press) has identified sociocultural factors that may define that risk. In this study, we examined three central constructs in the model—sport pressures regarding body, weight, and appearance; body dissatisfaction; and dietary restraint—within a sample of female collegiate gymnasts and swimmers/divers. Using cross-lagged panel analyses, we determined that sport pressures and dietary restraint remained highly stable over the course of a 5-month competitive season. As expected, Time 1 sport pressures predicted increases in body dissatisfaction at Time 2; no similar effects were found, however, on dietary restraint. Our findings provide direction for interventions that could reduce female athletes' risk of developing disordered eating by targeting messages, ideals, and behaviors within the sport environment that communicate the supposed importance of weight loss and appearance.

Female athletes have a slightly higher prevalence rate of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors than female nonathletes, particularly within lean-body, endurance, weight-dependent, and aesthetic sports (Bachner–Melman, Zohar, Ebstein, Elizur, & Constantini, 2006; Greenleaf, Petrie, Carter, & Reel, 2009; Smolak, Murnen & Ruble, 2000; Sundgot–Borgen & Torstveit, 2004; Torstveit, Rosenvinge, & Sundgot–Borgen, 2008). Because female athletes, like female nonathletes, are exposed to the same general societal expectations and ideals regarding body, dieting, appearance, attractiveness, and what it means to be a woman, this increased prevalence is likely due to other sociocultural/environmental factors, such as the unique pressures within the sport environment (Thompson & Sherman, 2010). Such sport-specific pressures and body ideals are numerous and include: (a) judging criteria that favor a lean body type or thin body lines based on the aesthetic nature of the sport (Barkley, 2001); (b) sport-sanctioned weight classifications (Dale & Landers, 1999); (c) revealing uniforms/attire (Reel, SooHoo, Petrie, Greenleaf, & Carter, 2010); (d) coaches' criticisms or comments about weight/body size (Kerr, Berman, & de Souza, 2006); (e) competitive body comparisons among...