The adolescent's body image was studied as a condensation and reflection of familial attitudes and interaction patterns. Parental overvaluation of 'the body beautiful', conscious or unconscious rejection of the youth, projection of a parental sense of inadequacy, the use of a child to resolve parental psychopathology, and parental overconcern about physical and sexual development were all found to be reflected in the body image. The author suggests that often the degree of body image disturbance in adolescence is a better indicator of psychopathology than the behavior itself.