RESEARCH: Quest Orientation in Young Women: Age Trends During Emerging Adulthood and Relations to Body Image and Disordered Eating

Abstract

The college and early adulthood years-the period of emerging adulthood-entail dramatic changes in identity and faith, but little is known about age trends in Quest orientation across these years. Further, nothing is known about the links between Quest and body image and eating behavior. We addressed these issues in 3 groups of young women: college freshmen and sophomores (n = 57,Mage 18.5 years), college juniors and seniors (n = 43, M age 21 years), and college graduates tested 3 years after graduation (n = 51, M age 25 years).Women completed the Quest Scale, Body Esteem scale, and the Eating Disorder Inventory. Age differences emerged, as college juniors and seniors were significantly higher on total Quest than freshmen and sophomores and marginally higher than recent graduates. The groups differed on 2 of the 3 subscales. Juniors and seniors were significantly higher on Doubting as Positive than freshmen and sophomores, and were significantly higher on Openness to Change than freshmen and sophomores and recent graduates. Relations between women's total Quest scores and body image and eating scores varied by age, as Quest in freshmen and sophomores correlated significantly with higher bulimia and body dissatisfaction. Total Quest was unrelated to body image and eating scores in the other age groups. The findings are discussed in terms of developmental processes during emerging adulthood.