Psychopathology of eating disorders: A controlled comparison of bulimic, obese, and normal subjects.

Abstract

Forty-five women (15 bulimic, 15 obese, and 15 normal) served as subjects. All were matched on age and height. Normal and bulimic subjects also were matched on weight. Each subject was administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Symptom Checklist-90, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a body image assessment. Results showed that bulimics evidenced significantly more psychopathology than did the normal and obese subjects. In particular, bulimics were found to be more depressed, more anxious, and generally more neurotic and impulsive. Bulimics also evidenced a distorted body image in that they perceived themselves as significantly larger and desired to be significantly smaller than did their matched controls. Bulimic and obese subjects showed some similarities in eating habits and psychopathology, especially regarding obsessiveness, impulsivity, and guilt.

Body image perception in relation to recent weight changes and strategies for weight loss in a nationally representative sample in the European Union

“…For a large sample size in a face-to-face interviewassisted survey, the silhouette matching technique is considered to be the most appropriate. With this -3 2 5 11 17 16 27 Exercise -1 3 3 11 10 12 8 Diet and exercise 1 1 2 1 8 10 9 12 Medication -----1 -1 Other methods --1 2 4 7 5 7 Total 1 5 8 11 34 45 42 55 technique subjects are shown a series of silhouettes of female or male shapes and asked which one best depicts their own body weight/shape 24 . In this study respondents were asked first which figure best matches their current body weight and then which one best matches their ideal body weight.…”

“…Following translation into many languages, descriptive terms for body image are more subject to variable interpretation. The choice of figures for this study was based on those most often used in European studies 22 compared with others which have been used more frequently in US studies 24,25 . Numerous studies on body image have shown that women are more likely than men to perceive themselves as overweight and to express dissatisfaction with their body shape 17,19,[26][27][28] .…”

“…There are a number of methods used for assessing body image including verbal descriptions, mirror imaging 23 and silhouette matching techniques [24][25][26] . For a large sample size in a face-to-face interviewassisted survey, the silhouette matching technique is considered to be the most appropriate.…”

Body image for women: Conceptualization, assessment, and a test of its importance to sexual dysfunction and medical illness

“…The construct was hypothesized as relevant to psychopathology (i.e., linked to perceptual aberration in schizophrenia; see Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978; depression; see Noles, Cash, & Winstead, 1985; and, anorexia and bulimia nervosa; see Williamson, Davis, Goreczny, & Blouin, 1989), physical attractiveness (Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrnstedt, 1973), sexual dysfunction (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1979), and physical illness (Kriss & Kraemer, 1986). Early assessments included indirect strategies, such as figure-drawing (Goodenough, 1928), special scoring systems for the Rorschach (e.g., barrier and penetration scores; Fisher and Cleveland, 1958), perceptual distortion tasks (e.g., waist estimation; body-distorting mirror assessments; Traub, Olson, Orbach, & Cardone, 1967), and, later, questionnaire assessments including measures of body image aberration (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978), body size ratings (Williamson et al, 1985), and body attitudes (see Mayer & Eisenberg, 1982, for a review).Despite empirical efforts and theoretical discussions (e.g., Fisher & Cleveland, 1958), body image remains ill defined. We view women's body images as attitudes-general and enduring positive or negative feelings about the body.…”

Social Ecological Prediction of Obesity in U.S. Naval Personnel

“…bingeing, purging, bulimia) have been associated with behavioral characteristics of borderline personality disorder (Johnson, Tobin, & Enright, 1989), anxiety or depression (Hoiberg, Berard, & Watten, 1978;Keck & Fiebert, 1986), the perception of little self-control (Loro & Orleans, 1981;Wilson, 1976), impulsiveness, obsessive behavior, or guilt (Williamson, Kelley, Davis, Ruggiero, & Blouin, 1985), difficulty coping with stress (Loro & Orleans, 1981), and interpersonal difficulties in general (Kolotkin, Revis, Kirkley & Janick, 1987). That diverse behavioral and psychological variables are related to obesity suggests that psychosocial factors related to stress and coping may well be linked with personal and environmental factors associated with obesity.…”