Abstract: Body image disturbance is a widespread problem among women. Debilitating eating disorders, partially a result of linking identity and slenderness, continue to rise at an alarming rate. Although body image disturbance affects women of all ages, most research in this area includes only college age women. Therefore, the current study expanded the age spectrum of participants to include a greater age range of adult women. The present study examined the influence of communicated messages from society through the media, family, and other interpersonal relationships on a woman's body image. Study design was established to test the mediating effect of social comparison and internalization of societal messages regarding thinness and appearance on the relationship between the experience of weight-based teasing as a youth and an adult woman's body image disturbance. A total of 158 women aged 18 to 71 years were administered a set of six self-report questionnaires (MBSRQ, POTS, SATAQ, PACS, RSE & BIDR). Because nearly two-thirds of the participants reported not having experienced weight-based teasing in their youth, the a priori planned regression analyses could not be conducted to test for the mediator model. Thus, modified multiple regressions were performed excluding the weight-based teasing variable. Specifically, a forward stepwise regression analysis was conducted with the other two predictor variables (social comparison and internalization), after controlling for appropriate covariates, with each of the six body image disturbance scales. Results revealed a few significant predictor-outcome relationships: Appearance Orientation was significantly predicted by social comparison (PACS), Body Areas Satisfaction was significantly predicted by internalization (SATAQ) and Overweight Preoccupation was significantly predicted by internalization (SATAQ). A median split of age analysis was conducted with all three predictors and with the six outcome variables. Younger women (18-34) demonstrated significantly larger mean scores on internalization (SATAQ), social comparison (PACS), and on the Appearance Evaluation scale of the MBSRQ, compared with older women (35-71). Moreover, older women demonstrated significantly larger mean scores for the Health Orientation scale of the MBSRQ as compared to the younger group. Although data abnormalities precluded examination of the mediator analyses, remaining results did significantly add to knowledge on body image disturbance in a number of ways. First, by demonstrating a relationship between age, internalization, social comparison, and appearance evaluation; (2) by adding to our knowledge of weight-related problems as measured by the six scales of the MBSRQ (e.g., managing weight and body image concerns through dieting and eating restraint rather than through fitness and health related behaviors); (3) by giving us a glimpse of the underlying social desirability factor for women with body image disturbance; and (4) by replicating past findings. Valuable implications for researchers, clinicians, educational systems, and women, in general, from these results are discussed as a means to address the epidemic of body image disturbance and eating disordered behavior. Moreover, from these results, important directions for future research and a better understanding of the relationships among age, identity formation, lifespan development, and body image disturbance are discussed.