BACKGROUND: There is broad consensus that the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa stem from fundamental disturbances in identity development, but theoretically based empirical support is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To extend work on the identity impairment model by investigating the relationship between organizational properties of the self-concept and change in disordered eating behaviors (DEB) in an at-risk sample of college women transitioning between freshman and sophomore years. METHODS: The number, valence, and organization of self-schemas; availability of a fat body weight self-schema; and DEB were measured at baseline in the freshman year and 6 and 12 months later in a community-based sample of college women engaged in subthreshold DEB (n = 77; control: n = 41). Repeated-measures analyses of variances were used to examine group differences, and hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict disordered eating behaviors. RESULTS: Women in the DEB group had more negative self-schemas at baseline and showed information-processing evidence of a fat self-schema compared with the controls. The groups did not differ in the number of positive self-schemas or interrelatedness. The number of negative self-schemas predicted increases in the level of DEB at 6- and 12-month follow-up, and these effects were mediated through the fat self-schema. The number of positive self-schemas predicted the fat self-schema score but was not predictive of increases in DEB. Interrelatedness of the self-concept was not a significant predictor in this model. DISCUSSION: Impairments in overall collection of identities are predictive of the availability in memory of a fat self-schema, which in turn is predictive of increases in DEB during the transition to college in a sample of women at risk for an eating disorder. Therefore, organizational properties of the self-concept may be an important focus for effective primary and secondary prevention.
BACKGROUND: There is broad consensus that the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa stem from fundamental disturbances in identity development, but theoretically based empirical support is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To extend work on the identity impairment model by investigating the relationship between organizational properties of the self-concept and change in disordered eating behaviors (DEB) in an at-risk sample of college women transitioning between freshman and sophomore years. METHODS: The number, valence, and organization of self-schemas; availability of a fat body weight self-schema; and DEB were measured at baseline in the freshman year and 6 and 12 months later in a community-based sample of college women engaged in subthreshold DEB (n = 77; control: n = 41). Repeated-measures analyses of variances were used to examine group differences, and hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict disordered eating behaviors. RESULTS:Women in the DEB group had more negative self-schemas at baseline and showed information-processing evidence of a fat self-schema compared with the controls. The groups did not differ in the number of positive self-schemas or interrelatedness. The number of negative self-schemas predicted increases in the level of DEB at 6- and 12-month follow-up, and these effects were mediated through the fat self-schema. The number of positive self-schemas predicted the fat self-schema score but was not predictive of increases in DEB. Interrelatedness of the self-concept was not a significant predictor in this model. DISCUSSION: Impairments in overall collection of identities are predictive of the availability in memory of a fat self-schema, which in turn is predictive of increases in DEB during the transition to college in a sample of women at risk for an eating disorder. Therefore, organizational properties of the self-concept may be an important focus for effective primary and secondary prevention.
Authors: Ruth H Striegel-Moore; Faith-Anne Dohm; Kathleen M Pike; Denise E Wilfley; Christopher G Fairburn Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2002-11 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: L M McCormick; P K Keel; M C Brumm; D B Watson; V L Forman-Hoffman; W A Bowers Journal: Eat Weight Disord Date: 2009 Jun-Sep Impact factor: 4.652
Authors: Lisa H Domenico; Stephen Strobbe; Karen Farchaus Stein; Bruno J Giordani; Bonnie M Hagerty; Susan J Pressler Journal: West J Nurs Res Date: 2016-07-13 Impact factor: 1.967