Family functioning, peer influence, and media influence as predictors of bulimic behavior.

One hundred and twenty undergraduate women students reported their height and weight and completed the Eating Disorder Questionnaire (EDQ), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Body Image Assessment (BIA), and measures of peer and media influence. Family functioning was shown to be a poor predictor of bulimic behavior, whereas peer influence was a significant predictor. Media influence interacted with body dysphoria to increase the likelihood of bulimic behavior. The BSQ was a better predictor of bulimic behavior than the BIA, suggesting that students' responses to a measure that asks questions about specific areas of the body may reflect their feelings of body dysphoria more accurately than a measure that relies on a generalized silhouette.