Navigation
Beyond calories: the role of media pressure and body appreciation in shaping time perception of food cues in female adolescents
Understanding time perception is essential, particularly in the context of adolescent development, where emotional and psychosocial factors intersect. This study investigates how images of high-calorie foods affect time perception in female adolescents, specifically considering how media influence and feelings of body satisfaction modulate this effect.
In research conducted in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, 55 female adolescents aged 14 to 19 participated in a temporal bisection task. This task involved distinguishing between images of high-calorie and low-calorie foods. Following the task, participants completed several questionnaires: the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire, the Body Appreciation Scale, and the SCOFF Questionnaire (Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food).
The findings revealed a notable trend: images of high-calorie foods prompted participants to overestimate elapsed time more than images of low-calorie foods. Moreover, this distortion of time perception was markedly intensified by higher levels of perceived media pressure. Interestingly, higher body appreciation appeared to mitigate this overestimation effect, suggesting a protective cognitive influence.
These outcomes illuminate how societal expectations and pressures can hinder cognitive processes related to food perception, ultimately affecting adolescents’ relationship with food and their self-image. To further understand these dynamics, future studies should employ longitudinal or experimental designs to clarify causality. The evidence underscores the urgent need for interventions targeting bio-psycho-social factors during adolescence, a period highly sensitive to media influences and body image concerns. [NPID: Perception, high-calorie, food images, body appreciation]
Year: 2026
