Transcript Social Psychological Perspectives on Disordered Eating Among

Social Psychological
Perspectives on Disordered
Eating Among College
Females
Presenter:
Dr. Priscilla Gitimu,
Other investigators in the research groupDr. Moly Cox, & Dr. Taci Turel
Dr. Rachel Pohle-Krauza, Dr. Jeanine Mincher, Dr. Zara Rowlands,
Dr. Janice
Elias
1
Why this study????
 In summer of 2012, we lost a student to
Bulimia. Many of us wondered how many
students could be suffering similarly and
how could we intervene. This study will;
1. Assist to approximate a % how many
students at could be at risk of a DE.
2. Study variables related to DE.
3. Use the knowledge we gain from this
study to intervene.
2
Synergy advantage
 Synergy can be defined as “the
cooperation of two or more people, to
produce a combined effect greater than
the sum of their separate efforts”
 This study is a product of cooperation
among seven faculty, with various
expertise, coming together to have a
deeper understanding on disordered
eating, not just for research, but to
actually help our students.
3
Synergy advantage
examples
Faculty have varying expertise hence
compliment each other
Nutrition faculty – have in-depth
understanding on dieting and disordered
eating
Fashion faculty - have in-depth
understanding of body image & appearance
issues
Psychology - have in-depth understanding
on statistics and psychological issues e.g.
depression.
4
Objective of the study?
 To investigate Disordered Eating (DE)
and its relationship to the following
variables among college female students.
Body image,
Social cultural attitudes towards
appearance,
Appearance anxiety, &
Depression
5
Facts about Disordered Eating(DE)
and Eating Disorders (ED)
Disordered eating can lead to an
eating disorder.
 DE is more of a habit, while ED is
an illness.
For DE usually education and/or
self-help group can assist with
change, but for ED, requires specific
professional medical and mental
health treatment.
6
Facts about Eating
Disorders
 It is estimated that 8 million Americans
have an eating disorder – seven million
women and one million men.
 Nearly half of all Americans personally
know someone with an eating disorder.
 Eating disorders have the highest
mortality rate of any mental illness
(Arcelus, 2011).
7
Facts about Eating
Disorders
*It
is estimated that clinical eating
disorders affects 10 to 20% of
female university students, and 4
to 10 % of male university
students (Schlesinge, 2014 & The
National Eating Disorders Association
(NEDA).
8
“… exposure to
thin models could
also play a role on
development of
eating disorders”
HuffPost blogger Susan
Albers, Psy.D., a psychologist
at the Cleveland Clinic.
Hence the EveryBODY Fashion show
on ALL BODY TYPES!
This year it is on April
19th.
9
Theoretical Framework for this study
The current study based its discourse through
the lenses of four theories and their modern
day interpretations;
1. Social comparison theory by
humans always strive to improve their lives
and they do so by comparing themselves
with other individuals.
2. Social cultural perspectives- the social
cultural ideal female beauty many times
differs from the actual appearance of many
women.
Festinger (1954),
(Jung-Hee, Lennon & Rudd, 2001),
10
Theoretical Framework for this study
3. Self-discrepancy theory - differences may exist between
the actual (real) the ideal (desired) appearance. These
discrepancies may lead to an unfavorable mental state of
mind, which again may lead to a decline in recognizing of
apparent self-discrepancies. When the discrepancy is
large, it may yield to a mental condition such as
depression (Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1987).
4. Normative discontent theory – dissatisfaction with
one’s weight has become so widespread among females
that feeling undesirably about one’s appearance is
allegedly to be the “norm” rather than the exception
(Rodin, Silberstein, Striegel-Moore, 1984).
11
Variables measured in the
study and why
1. Demographic information including n
current weight, desired weight, height
(hence BMI).
2. Stunkard Body Figure Scale (BFS)
3. EAT -26
4. Social Cultural Attitudes towards
Appearance Scale- (SATAQ-3)
5. Social Appearance Anxiety Scale
(SAAS)
6. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
12
Study method
 The combined scales took about 15-20
minutes to fill.
 Got Human Subjects permission.
 The consent letter gave information on
where participants can get counseling
help.
 Distributed most surveys in classes.
13
Counseling help contact, inserted in the
consent letter to all participants
“If you would like to talk with someone about your
health or body perceptions, you can contact the YSU
student health clinic at 330-941-3489. YSU also
offers services to you at the Community Counseling
Clinic which you can contact at 330-941-3056 during
business hours, both of these confidential services
are available to all YSU students at no cost. You can
also receive confidential help via the Youngstown
area Crisis Hotline at 330 747-2696.”
14
Variables measured in the study and why
Scale used
Why it was important
EAT -26
If participant scored EAT 26≥20, then they were considered at
risk of having an eating disorder.
BMI
Body dissatisfaction has shown to be positively correlated with
body weight and BMI (Gardner, Brown, & Boice, 2012).
Stunkard Body
Figure Scale
(BFS)
Gave current body shape and ideal body shape.
Social Cultural
Internalization of media influences is a dominant predictor of
Attitudes towards appearance dissatisfaction (Swami, Taylor, & Carvalho, 2011).
Appearance
Scale- (SATAQ-3)
Social
Appearance
Anxiety Scale
(SAAS)
Given that social anxiety and eating disorders typically exist
concurrently, it seems likely that social appearance anxiety may
be a missing connection between social anxiety and eating
disorders. (Levinson & Rodebaugh 2012).
Beck Depression
Inventory (BDI)
There are common associations between depression and
disordered eating symptoms and anxiety sensitivity. (Fink,
Bodell, Smith, & Joiner (2013).
SCALES
Number of
items
Cronbach’s
Alpha
Example
Scoring
EAT-26
26
.87
‘I have gone on eating binges
where I feel that I may not be able
to stop’
EAT 26 ≥ 20 are
considered to be at risk
of having an eating
disorder.
SATAQ-3
30
.95
‘I compare my appearance to the
appearance of TV and movie
stars.’
Higher scores indicate
more influence by
Social cultural attitudes
towards appearance
SAAS
16
.97
‘I am frequently afraid I would not
meet others’ standards of how I
should look.’
Higher scores on the
SAAS indicate higher
levels of social
appearance anxiety.
BDI
21
.92
Each item on the BDI scale is
Scores range from 0 to
framed within a range of 0-3:
63, with a score of 10 or
0 = I do not feel sad; 1= I feel sad; more meaning one has
symptoms of
depression
BFS
10 pictures
Scale
Difference between current and
ideal body shape
16
Greater the difference
indicate greater body
dissatisfaction
EAT- 26
If participant scored EAT 26≥20, then they
were considered at risk of having an eating
disorder.
women
81%
19%
17
Table 2. Demographic and descriptive information for sample
*Body satisfaction and dissatisfaction were determined by the Stunkard Body Figural Scale
Total sample
At-risk (EAT 26≥20) Not At-risk (EAT 26≥20)
Total N
Race
Caucasian
African-American
Hispanic
Asian
Native American
Other
342
65
277
276
46
6
3
1
11
59 (21%)
4 (9%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
3 (27%)
217 (79%)
42 (91%)
6 (100%)
3 (100%)
1 (100%)
8 (73%)
Marital Status
Single
Married
Divorced
294
36
10
60 (20%)
4 (11%)
1 (10%)
234 (80%)
32 (89%)
9 (90%)
Age
18-22 years
23-30 years
31-40 years
41-50 years
50 and over
236
65
17
6
11
51 (12%)
7 (11%)
2 (12%)
0 (0%)
2 (18%)
185 (78%)
58 (89%)
15 (88%)
6 (100%)
9 (82%)
Body satisfaction*
Body dissatisfaction*
102
240
11 (11%)
54 (22%)
91 (89%)
186 (78%)
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ANOVAs for WOMEN – EAT 26 ≥ 20 (at risk of ED) as dependent
variable and other variables as independent variables
WOMEN
BMI
N
Not At-risk
At-risk
Current Shape –
Ideal Shape
BFS
Not At-risk
Social Appearance
Anxiety
SAASTOT
Sociocultural
Attitudes Towards
Appearance
SATAQTOT
Depression
symptoms
BDI
Not At-risk
At-risk
At-risk
Not At-risk
At-risk
Not At-risk
At-risk
19
Mean
272
24.937
65
25.639
277
1.011
65
1.662
277
32.679
65
46.692
257
83.630
61
103.213
252
8.310
61
13.330
F
Sig.
.479
.489
16.006
.000
40.412
.000
36.712
.000
14.135
.000
Logistic Regression Analysis
Predictor
b
SE b
Wald’s
c2
df
p
Odds
Ratio
Constant
-5.37
.966
30.937
1
<.001
.005
Appearance
contentment
.478
.466
1.051
1
.305
1.613
BMI
-.013
.024
.319
1
.572
.987
Sociocultural
Attitudes Toward
Appearance
.028
.009
10.088
1
.001
1.029
Social Appearance
Anxiety
.027
.012
5.122
1
.024
1.028
Depression
.014
.01920
.594
1
.441
1.015
Regression explanation
The dichotomized risk of disordered eating behavior as measured
by EAT-26 scores and categorized as at-risk or not at-risk was the
outcome, and appearance contentment (BFS scale), BMI, scores on
the SATAQ, scores on the SAAS, and scores on the BDI were
predictor variables.
The combination of these variables is a strong predictor of
disordered eating behavior. The Hosmer and Lemeshow goodnessof-fit test indicates a nonsignificant statistic (c2 (8) = 10.56, p =
.226), suggesting that the model estimates fit the data well.
Furthermore, the classification table indicates that this model
would correctly predict a female’s risk for disordered eating
behavior 83.6% of the time.
Two of the five predictors were significantly contributing to this
model fit.- the SATAQ (sociocultural attitudes toward appearance),
and the SAAS, (social appearance anxiety), were significant
predictors of female college students’ risk for disordered eating
behavior.
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Discussion
 Women who were at risk of an eating
disorder differed significantly in their
(SATAQ totals) Sociocultural Attitudes Towards
Appearance than those who were not at risk
of an eating disorder.
 Body image develops in the context of
sociocultural factors, such as unrealistic
media images (Clay, Vignoles, & Dittmar, 2005).
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Discussion contd.
 Women who were at risk of an eating
disorder differed significantly in the
following(see below) than those who
were not at risk of an eating disorder.
social appearance anxiety totals
(SAAS)
Current Shape – Ideal Shape (BFS)
Depression symptomatic (BDI)
23
Discussion contd.
 Women who were at risk of an eating
disorder did not differ significantly in
their (BMI) than those who were not at
risk of an eating disorder.
 According to Lafrance et al. (2013)
Regardless of a woman’s body size/BMI
the tendency to diet was the same for all
women.
24
Practical Implications
BMI was not shown to differ significantly
between those at risk for disordered eating
behavior and those less at risk. --college
females with a healthy body weight can neverthe-less be at risk for the development of an
eating disorder.
There should be campaigns, slogans and
deliberate effort in society to ascribe value to
women on attributes other than physical
appearance, such as character.
25
Practical Implications
 Start early education interventions to help
girls critique rather than internalize unrealistic
media images (Clay, Vignoles, & Dittmar,
2005) and form their own more flexible
physical goals.
 Reduce appearance related thoughts and
conversations which may cause social
appearance anxiety (Bardone-Cone, et al.
2013).
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Research Plan ahead
Use the research findings of our study
to try and reduce disordered eating
through various avenues.
Currently we are having the
EVERYBODY Fashion show. Every year
the show’s theme is create awareness
about disordered eating.
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Some Photos from the last two EveryBODY fashion Show
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A Window Display in department with
messages about good Body Image
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