The performances of 114 eating disordered females on measures of individual and family functioning were examined via t-tests, analyses of variance, and chi squares analyses. Subjects met DSM-III-R criteria for anorexia nervosa, anorexia nervosa with bulimia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or eating disorder not otherwise specified. Measures included selected scales of the MMPI, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Eating Disorder Questionnaire, the Moos Family Environment Scale, and the Berren-Shisslak Family Dynamics Survey. First, performances on the measures were compared to normative samples and across diagnostic groups. As expected, the subjects differed from normative samples on many dependent measures, but the diagnostic groups differed little among themselves. Next, an examination of 45 clinical features suggested that subjects were not as symptomatically distinct as diagnosis might imply. Finally, diagnosis was set aside to examine the relationships of specific clinical features to the measures of individual and family functioning. These features included age, weight history, food binges, vomiting, laxative and diuretic use, food restriction, menstrual history, exercise, drug and alcohol abuse, symptom severity, inpatient treatment history, and additional diagnosis. Surprisingly, a history of anorectic weight was not related to any of the measures, but amenorrhea emerged as a clinical feature of some import, not just among the anorectic subjects but among subjects generally. Other findings suggested that patients who binge have difficulty with separation, that binges may be a metaphor for unsatisfied cravings for nurturance, and that vomiting and exercise may enhance a sense of separateness while laxative use may represent the private expulsion of anger. The need for family involvement in treatment was highlighted by many relationships between the clinical features and indices of family dysfunction.

In this thesis I explore women's engagement with body, weight and eating from a socio-cultural perspective. I discuss the limitations of current research on body dissatisfaction and propose that women's negative appraisal of their body needs to be understood as an active engagement with their social context. Research that focuses on the interaction of ethnic/cultural differences and body dissatisfaction seeks to clarify the interrelationship between femininity, gender and culture and suggests that women's dissatisfaction with their body is linked to levels of global Westernisation. My criticism of this research is that it conceptualises culture and social knowledge in a simplistic way. I propose social representations theory and the principles of dialogicality as an alternative research paradigm and argue that such an approach can overcome the dichotomy of individual and social, inner and outer. In order to explore the interaction of the subjective with the social in relation to the negative and positive appraisal of the body an interview study was conducted in two distinct cultural contexts. In depth interviews were conducted with 14 women in the UK and 12 women in Tobago, WI. The thema recognition/disrespect was used as an interpretative frame. The results show that the meanings that were assigned to the body interlinked with socially enacted representations of self, other and femininity. While the thema recognition/disrespect could be seen to be problematised through contradictory conditions of worth in the UK, it was the notion of 'disrespect' in interrelation with representations of others that was foregrounded in women's reflections in Tobago. In both research locations women negotiated constraining or contradictory demands of femininity and 're-presented' themselves through the construction of alternative identities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of sociocultural factors in the occurrence of pathological eating attitudes and behaviours by determining the relationship between acculturation to Canada, as a Western culture , and eating attitudes and behaviours in a nonclinical sample of female Chinese and Caucasian university students. In addition , as an exploratory goal any possible relationship between acculuturative stress and eating attitudes and behaviours was also explored. One hundred female Caucasian and 131 female Chinese undergraduate students were recruited from the University of British Columbia. Each subject was asked to complete a Demographic Questionnaire as well as the 26 item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT; Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982). Additionally , the Chinese subjects were asked to complete the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA; Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, 1987) and the 24 item SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE; Mean, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987).

This thesis examines the problem of disordered eating based on ethnographic fieldwork in emergency shelters, soup kitchens, and eating disorder support groups, as well as interviews with medical professionals, and other residents of a Canadian city. This person-centered ethnography that explores the eating behaviors of not only those who have been diagnosed with 'eating disorders', but also those who are unable at times to provide themselves with food reveals that in spite of a prevailing discourse that determines eating as an independent act, food choices and eating patterns are dependent social 'works of the imagination' affected and shaped by social determinants and cultural norms. From eating disorders to type 2 diabetes and 'food as gift,' the lived experience of individuals indexes the ways in which food, power, and identity are enmeshed and embedded within culture. This critical perspective argues that disordered eating is socially and culturally produced and reproduced. / vi, 182 leaves ; 29 cm.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of sociocultural factors in the occurrence of pathological eating attitudes and behaviours by determining the relationship between acculturation to Canada, as a Western culture , and eating attitudes and behaviours in a nonclinical sample of female Chinese and Caucasian university students. In addition , as an exploratory goal any possible relationship between acculuturative stress and eating attitudes and behaviours was also explored. One hundred female Caucasian and 131 female Chinese undergraduate students were recruited from the University of British Columbia. Each subject was asked to complete a Demographic Questionnaire as well as the 26 item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT; Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982). Additionally , the Chinese subjects were asked to complete the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA; Suinn, Rickard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, 1987) and the 24 item SAFE Acculturative Stress Scale (SAFE; Mean, Padilla, & Maldonado, 1987). / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

A growing body of research has explored the prevalence of eating disorder pathology within the ethnically and culturally diverse South African context. The purpose of this study was to examine the presence and severity of eating disorder symptoms within a multi-racial, female student sample. In addition to this, the pathogenic role of the family was considered and framed in terms of attachment theory. Thus, a secondary aim was to explore the relationship between disordered eating and participants' membership to an attachment style and /or dimension. A questionnaire survey was administered to a convenience sample of 127 first year, female, university students. The sample included 39 (30.71%) Black, 5 (3.94%) Coloured, 29 (22.83%) Indian and 54 (42.52%) White women. Levels of disordered eating were measured by the Eating Disorder Inventory 1 (EDI 1). Attachment styles were determined by means of the Close Relationship Questionnaire (CRQ) and attachment dimensions were calculated by means of the Adult Attachment Scale (AAS). It was found that Black students had higher mean scores on seven of the eight EDI 1 subscales than their Indian and White peers. There were significant differences noted on the EDI 1 sub-scales of Bulimia (p < .01), Perfectionism (p < .05), and Interpersonal Distrust (p < .05). White participants scored highest on the Body Dissatisfaction sub-scale. A negative relationship was indicated between the eight EDI 1 sub-scales and the secure attachment dimension (Close). A positive relationship was found between the eight EDI sub-scales and the two insecure attachment dimensions (Depend and Anxiety). Significant differences were found between the race groups in terms of the classification of participants into three attachment styles /dimensions. This research supports previous findings with regard to high levels of eating disordered pathology among Black women. Furthermore, support of a relationship between disordered eating and participants' attachment in close relationships was indicated. In particular, the psychological struggles implicated in disordered eating such as feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness, mistrust of others, and difficulty with emotions, were found to be significantly associated with unhealthy or insecure attachment patterns that reflected difficulty with trust and dependency in close relationships. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.