Sociocultural and identity predictors of body dissatisfaction in ethnically diverse college women

•We examined ethnic and American identity in women across four ethnic groups.•Ethnic identity was a moderator for African Americans and Asian Americans.•Ethnic identity buffered thin-ideal internalization or pressure for thinness.•Ethnic identity may protect against body dissatisfaction in some ethnic groups.•Role of American identity affirmation was unclear.

Emerging research suggests that ethnic identity and American identity are associated with mental health in ethnic minorities and European Americans, respectively. Furthermore, although ethnic identity is associated with diminished body dissatisfaction in minority women, the relationship between American identity and body dissatisfaction is unexplored in all ethnic groups. Accordingly, this study examined the relationships among ethnic identity, American identity, thin-ideal internalization, pressures for thinness, and body dissatisfaction in 1018 ethnically diverse college women. Ethnic identity negatively predicted body dissatisfaction for African Americans, and attenuated the relationship between pressures for thinness and body dissatisfaction for African Americans and Asian Americans, but not European Americans or Latina Americans. Results for American identity were inconclusive. Findings suggest that ethnic identity may be a protective factor against eating pathology for Asian American and African American women.