In this study, the relationship between the risk factors of perfectionism and depression and eating disorder symptomatology was examined. A sample of female undergraduates completed the following three measures: the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), and the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD). Results indicated that perfectionism is significantly positively correlated with depression. Higher levels of perfectionism were also associated with the presence of eating disorder symptoms, whereas lower levels of perfectionism were associated with the absence of eating disorder symptoms. Finally, an increase in perfectionism levels was predictive of eating disorder symptoms. Directions for future research and clinical implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is a lack of clarity in the current literature in how potential etiological factors interact and result in disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to examine an expanded model of Personality, Social Support, Appraisal/Coping Processes, Abuse History, Internalization of Sociocultural Standards, Psychological Disturbances, and Body Disparagement in the development of disordered eating. The current model was evaluated using 276 women in their transition to college, a time period highly associated with symptoms believed to increase a woman's risk for the development of disordered eating including perceived difficulty coping, weight gain, and negative affect. Structural equation modeling was used to allow simultaneous examination of the causal relationships between the factors. Structural analyses confirmed that college women with previous stressful experiences appraised the adjustment to college as more stressful and reported feeling less able to cope with the transition. Those women who identified the transition as overwhelming were also aware of increased negative mood and psychological states since beginning the school semester. Further, women with previous traumatic sexual experiences appeared to be at additional risk for increased negative affective symptoms. The resulting model confirmed that those women who experience negative mood states and those that endorse strong internalization of cultural values regarding attractiveness encountered increased dissatisfaction and disapproval of their bodies. Finally, women with higher levels of body concern engaged in more eating behaviors associated with disordered eating. The roles of personality functioning and perceived social support could not be identified in the developmental model. The predictive links between constructs in the resulting model provide meaningful information regarding the transition to college and associated risks for development of disordered eating. Validation of the model in an independent sample would provide confirmation of these relationships and longitudinal research examining females' attitudes across crucial developmental periods might provide important information regarding which individuals are most at risk for development of disordered eating.

Psychological and behavioral characteristics of female undergraduates with varying levels of disordered eating, as measured by the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD; Mintz, O'Halloran, Mulholland, & Schneider, 1997), were investigated. Results suggest that the Q-EDD is an appropriate instrument for measuring eating disorder symptomatology. Greater disordered eating was associated with more bulimic, dieting, and weight fluctuation symptoms, higher impression management and approval-seeking needs, more dichotomous thinking, self control, and rigid weight regulation, and increased concern with body shape and dissatisfaction with facial features. Eating-disordered and symptomatic women evidenced more severe eating disorder behaviors and psychological distress than asymptomatic women. Findings are congruent with a redefined discontinuity perspective of eating disorder symptomatology. Treatment implications and campus-wide preventions are suggested.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves [287]-309). Concerned with a group of people's everyday experiences of anorexia. The fieldwork on which the thesis is based was conducted in multiple sites (Vancouver, Edinburgh, and Adelaide) over 15 months (August 1998-October 1999) and deals with 44 women and 3 men ranging in ages from 14-55. Primarily concerned with the processes that propelled them towards and away from this phenomenon: the desires, connections, disconnections, practice, contested performances and struggles of becoming and unbecoming 'anorexic'.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves [287]-309). / vii, 309 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Concerned with a group of people's everyday experiences of anorexia. The fieldwork on which the thesis is based was conducted in multiple sites (Vancouver, Edinburgh, and Adelaide) over 15 months (August 1998-October 1999) and deals with 44 women and 3 men ranging in ages from 14-55. Primarily concerned with the processes that propelled them towards and away from this phenomenon: the desires, connections, disconnections, practice, contested performances and struggles of becoming and unbecoming 'anorexic'. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Anthropology and Social Inquiry, 2002

This study uses content analysis to examine the portrayal of eating disorders in young adult novels published from 1981-2005. Fifteen books were evaluated to determine if the portrayal of eating disorders was accurate according to documented psychological profiles of the causes and risk factors for eating disorders. Additionally, the books were evaluated to see if the portrayal of eating disorders over time had changed to correspond with evolving information on eating disorders. This study concludes that while eating disorders are being portrayed accurately and realistically in young adult literature, there is no change in the portrayals over time to complement evolving research on the risk factors and causes of eating disorders.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-117). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-117). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-119).

Body, weight and shape related obsessions and ruminations are characteristic traits of individuals with eating disorders (ED) that are found to predate the onset of the disorder. Individuals with chronic ED display altered neural activation in response to food stimuli, and are reported to have volumetric differences compared to healthy individuals, which is likely an effect of prolonged starvation. ED individuals are also seen to dispose an attentional bias to food stimuli, even when perceived sub-consciously, which are reported to interfere with cognitive tasks, including working memory (WM). However, whether the differences in neural activation and structure are present in adolescents with a recent ED diagnosis is not known. In paper I we describe how images of high- and low-calorie foods resulted in greater responses in the prefrontal circuitry in ED adolescents compared to healthy controls (HC). Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in ED individuals were associated with prefrontal circuitry and cerebellar activation, whereas faster reaction times to the WM were associated with greater superior frontal gyrus activity. The findings indicate that ED cognitions may be linked to WM abilities, both of which are associated with frontal cortex functioning. WM performance is examined further in paper II, where we found that the presence of subliminal food images were seen to disrupt WM performance in terms of slower reaction times and less correct responses in ED but not HC. The WM interference was associated with increased activity in the parietal and superior temporal cortex. WM interference caused by subliminal food stimuli may reflect a pre-attentive bias to food in adolescents with ED, which could be a risk factor for further development of an ED. The structural differences in brain volume between adolescents with ED and HC were examined in paper III. ED symptoms were found to be associated with volume differences in insular cortex and superior temporal gyrus, whereas obsessive-compulsive symptoms were associated with reduced volumes in the putamen and cerebellum. These volumetric differences in regions implicated in restraint, obsessions and WM are likely to precede structural variations caused by starvation as seen in chronic ED’s. Connectivity from these regions, in addition to other regions believed to be implicated in ED, was studied in paper IV. Fronto-parietal regions as well as the insula showed increased connectivity in ED, whereas connectivity from the mesolimbic reward regions did not differ from HC. Regions with increased connectivity in ED are involved with self-awareness, body image and ED related ruminations, connections that could influence how one’s body is perceived. In conclusion, the studies included in this thesis describes changes in functional activity, connectivity and brain volume in regions involved with ED cognitions, eating behaviour, and body image in adolescents recently diagnosed with an ED.