To examine the association between sociocultural pressures, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among female French students.

Participants were 201 women from a Toulouse University (mean age=20.70 years, SD=2.56). Pressure perceived from the media, peers and parents was assessed using parallel scales. The questionnaire also assessed body dissatisfaction (BD), drive for thinness (DT), bulimia (BU) and self-reported height and weight.

Participants reported higher scores of peer pressure (mean= 6.87, SD=1.82), than media pressure (mean= 6.14, SD=2.32) and parental pressure (mean= 5.41, SD= 1.44). The difference between the pressure perceived from each source was significant (p< .001). BD was significantly correlated with pressure from the media (r= .25), peers (r= .19), and parents (r= .21). DT was also significantly correlated with pressure from all three sources (r= .21; r= .25 and r= .17 respectively). BU was significantly correlated only with media pressure (r= .16). Hierarchical regression revealed that BMI, and sociocultural pressures, accounted for 38% of the variance in BD F(4, 190)= 28.63, p=< 001, with BMI, media and parental pressure as predictors. BMI, media and peer pressure were predictors of DT F(4, 190)= 28.26, p=< 001, R2=21. BMI and media pressure were predictors of BU F(4, 190)= 6.41, p=< 001, R2=12.

Sociocultural pressure contributes strongly to body image and eating concern among French students. These findings highlight the importance of developing sociocultural models among French populations, and the need for prevention interventions that build on these frameworks.