Psychology Commons^™

Investigating Risk Factors Of The Development Of Compulsive Exercise And Eating Disorder Symptoms In College Students, Madeline Palermo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Compulsive exercise (e.g., high exercise frequency combined with the inability to reduce or stop exercising) is associated with a variety of maladaptive outcomes in college students, such as quality of life impairment, body dissatisfaction, and poor physical health outcomes. Recent research suggests that compulsive exercise is highly prevalent among college students and that engagement in compulsive exercise behaviors may increase over the first year of college. Given that college is an important developmental period for establishing behavioral patterns that affect long-term health, developing effective preventative interventions for compulsive exercise among early college students is paramount. Extant cross-sectional work suggests that …

Planning To Behave Impulsively To Feel Better: An Ema Study Of College Students' Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Binge Eating, And Exercise Behaviors, Rose H. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research has demonstrated associations between impulsivity and maladaptive behaviors such as nonsuicidal self-injury and binge eating. Little attention has been paid to the planning that may occur prior to engagement in these behaviors, or to the role the planning might play in allowing individuals to regulate their emotions when they are not immediately able to engage in their chosen behaviors. Including another behavior that is typically considered to be non-impulsive (i.e., physical exercise) as a comparison, we sought to test the hypothesis that planning may serve an affect regulatory role for individuals who engage in so-called “impulsive” behaviors. We …

Deconstructing Orthorexia In An Age Of Healthism And Social Media, Maddison Paul

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Orthorexia, a pathological fixation with healthy eating, has recently emerged as a construct of interest in the field of clinical psychology. Despite its growing recognition, the origin of this construct remains unclear. This dissertation aims to contribute to the understanding of orthorexia by examining its emergence and contextual factors through a constructivist lens. The study found that the cultural, economic, and moralistic landscape of healthism and social medially have played a role in the development of orthorexia. The dominant clinical perspective of orthorexia was also deconstructed, revealing potential biases that may lead to pathologizing the experiences of those who demonstrate …

Approach And Avoidance Food Craving: A Dual Cue Reactivity Investigation, Christina Lee Verzijl

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that food craving is a motivational process underlying the full spectrum of disordered eating behaviors. The ambivalence model of craving, originally applied to substance use craving, provides a framework through which the push-pull motivational process of food craving and its relation to the range of disordered eating behaviors can be understood. In this perspective, food craving is a multi-dimensional motivational process that involves an individual’s competing desires to both consume (i.e., approach) and not consume (i.e., avoid) certain food. Building on previous literature, the current study tested whether behavioral measures of approach and avoidance food craving (i.e., …

The Relationship Between Perceived Stress And Disordered Eating In Undergraduate Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Caroline G. Martin

Gettysburg College Headquarters

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and imposed challenges on nearly everyone, including college students. Despite their already stressful situations, previous research has demonstrated increased stress levels among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, research has also shown an increase in disordered eating for college students during the pandemic. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between both perceived stress and disordered eating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study used a correlational design to investigate a potential association between perceived stress and disordered eating among undergraduate college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. By administering the EAT-26, the CSSEC, …

Investigation Into The Comorbidities Of Disordered Eating And Social Anxiety Disorder In College Students, Alice Mccraney

Honors Theses

In recent years, psychiatrists have reported a trend that individuals with social anxiety disorders are more likely to also have disordered eating and vice versa. Research into this connection has suggested that risk factors, such as stress reactivity, negative self- esteem, perfectionism and fear of negative evaluation are potential links. This is important because understanding the correlation between the two disorders could help develop better treatments plans for people who suffer from these disorders. This study investigates the relationship between the two. A total of 257 college students between ages 18-22 completed a questionnaire using the Disordered Eating Attitude Scale …

The Effects Of Covid-19 Induced Stress, Anxiety And Depression On The Eating Behavior Of College Women, Natalie Simpson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Increases in the prevalence of disordered eating patterns have been linked to distress and poor mental well-being. Additionally, COVID-19 has been linked to both depressive and anxious symptomatology, along with increased feelings of distress (Fitzpatrick et al., 2020). Because disordered eating is particularly prevalent among college-aged women, this study sought to determine how depression, anxiety, and stress affect eating behaviors of college women in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 179 women at Butler University, aged 18-24, gave informed consent before completing a questionnaire pertaining to their demographics, their stress surrounding COVID, and their weight change since March 2020. The …

Childhood Interpersonal Trauma And Disordered Eating; The Mediating Role Of Social Information Processing Deficits, Deviated Pubertal Timing, And Emotion, Cazzie Es Steinzor

Dissertations and Theses

Childhood maltreatment has been identified as a risk factor for psychopathology, including disordered eating. The current study tested a transdiagnostic theoretical model, posited by McLaughlin and colleagues (2020), that integrates difficulties with emotions, perceived deviation in pubertal timing, and social information processing deficits to explain the relationship between childhood maltreatment exposure and the development of a range of psychopathology. Specifically, the current study incorporated the aforementioned mechanisms to explain the relationship of child maltreatment with disordered eating. While research supports associations between the aforementioned variables, it is unclear if these three mechanisms better explain the relationship between exposure to childhood …

Evaluating The Relationship Between Orthorexia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Symptomatology, And Related Psychological Constructs In An Undergraduate Mixed-Gender Sample, Kimberly Marie Martinez

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The pursuit of a healthy lifestyle has become a central focus of Western societies over the past few decades. As rates of chronic conditions, such as obesity and type II diabetes, continue to rise, so too has the desire to maintain one’s optimal state of health. For some, the pursuit of a healthy diet becomes an obsession that interferes with one’s physical and psychological wellbeing. Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is a proposed eating disorder characterized by a pathological fixation on healthy eating. Unlike other established eating disorders (EDs), ON is focused on the quality of one’s diet, rather than the quantity …

Coping Self-Efficacy As A Moderator In The Relationship Between Trauma And Disordered Eating, Bethany Owens Raymond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Disordered eating behaviors are associated with a myriad of detrimental health and mental health consequences (Ackard et al., 2003; Bryla, 2003; Karkkainen et al., 2018; Quick & Byrd-Bredbenner, 2013). Previous research identifies trauma as a risk factor for disordered eating behaviors and eating disorders (Brewerton, 2007). For instance, individuals with eating disorders are more likely to report trauma than individuals with no such history (Lejonclou et al., 2014). However, because not all individuals with a history of trauma exhibit disordered eating, it is important to identify what factors might moderate this relationship. The current study aims to investigate coping-self efficacy …

Changes In Body Image, Eating Behaviors, And Exercise During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Megan Gressley

Honors Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic transformed many different aspects of life as many individuals were sent home from school or work and were confined within their homes. Within restricted life, individuals experienced changes in their social lives, eating habits, and day-to-day routine. Within this research study I chose to examine how individuals' lives changed directly from the year before the Covid-19 pandemic to the first year of domestic shutdown. A sample of BGSU undergraduate students responded to a survey questioning them on their behaviors, feelings, and attitudes among these time periods. Results showed that individuals experienced significantly more disordered eating within the …

Testing Competing Mediation Models Of The Effects Of Weight Bias Internalization And Weight Suppression On Disordered Eating In Young Adults, Samantha J. Withnell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current study investigated a novel theoretical model of longitudinal relations between weight bias internalization (WBI), weight suppression, and disordered eating. Undergraduate students (N = 787) completed surveys at three time points. Path analysis was used to test competing models representing the temporal order of effects between WBI and weight suppression on disordered eating symptoms. Neither pathway was supported by the data, indicating that WBI and weight suppression were not related over time. However, results supported distinct effects of WBI versus weight suppression on the prediction of overall disordered eating, binge eating, and body dissatisfaction over six-month follow up. …

The Relationship Of Societal Pressures And Disordered Eating Among Lebanese Women, Rita Hage

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Messages that women receive from the media, family, and peers are often intended to promote the female thin ideal, and these messages may contribute to the development of eating disorders. In Lebanese society, unrealistic standards for thinness are a central component of how Lebanese society defines glamour. The following paper examined the relationship of societal pressures on Lebanese women to meet these beauty expectations and how those pressures are related to disordered eating. Ninety Lebanese women between the ages of 18 and 39 responded to two questionnaires: (a) the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and (b) the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance …

A Brief Zoom-Facilitated Mindful And Intuitive Eating Intervention To Decrease Disordered Eating, Jenna K. Anderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Clinical eating disorders are psychological disorders that impact a small percentage of the population. In the United States, prevalence rates range from 2-8% with a point prevalence of 4.6% (Galmiche et al., 2019). Subclinical disordered eating is a broader term for eating patterns and behaviors that do not meet clinical threshold, but that still may be life impairing (Burnette & Mazzeo, 2020). Subclinical disordered eating impacts many more individuals than clinical eating disorders do and is often present without the direct awareness of the people affected by it. With the prominence of diet culture in the United States that supports …

Exploration Of Drive For Leanness In Relation To Drives For Thinness And Muscularity, As Well As Their Concurrent Associations With Health-Related Outcomes, Brittany Lang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drive for leanness, the motivation to build lean muscle,as well as obtain low enough body fat content for this muscle to be seen, is a nascent drive construct compared to the more established drives for thinness and muscularity. What little research has been done on drive for leanness has suggested that drive for leanness is more sex neutral, as well as potentially more adaptive,than the other drive variables. However, there is debate regarding the factor structure of drive for leanness, or more specifically,whether drive for leanness is its own unique construct or if it is better described as an amalgamation …

Relationship Between Body Image Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating: Mediating Effect Of Selfesteem And Depression Among Female University Students, Agatha Teni Wunyala-Bukari

Psychology Theses

The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating and to examine whether depression and self - Esteem mediate the relationship. The sample consisted of 186 undergraduate and post graduate female university students. Data collection tools were the Body-Image Ideals Questionnaire (BIQ), the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), the Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) software and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used for the analysis of data. The findings of this study showed a significant positive correlation between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. In …

Dietary Intake And Executive Function In Youth And Emerging Adulthood: Environmental Correlates And Developmental Considerations, Amy Michelle Egbert

Dissertations

Obesity is a major public health concern impacting one in five young people in the U.S., and research suggests that consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods may play a role in weight gain. Executive function (EF) has emerged as a factor that may play a role in dietary intake across youth development. Although biopsychosocial models of obesity emphasize the importance of identifying individual and environmental influences that may be associated with poor dietary intake, empirical research in this area is lacking. Therefore, the current set of studies seeks to 1) systematically review the literature on the association between EF …

Maternal Factors In The Disordered Eating Of Adolescent Girls: Proposing And Evaluating A New Model, Miriam Goldstein

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Disordered eating behaviors occur at high rates among adolescent girls of all ethnicities and are associated with increased risk of eating disorders. Maternal influences such as maternal disordered eating, childhood feeding practices, and the mother-teen relationship quality have been implicated as risk factors for disordered eating in adolescent girls, but few studies have examined the interplay of these influences within a single model, controlling for adolescent age. To address this gap, the current study proposed a theoretical model and tested a series of moderated mediation pathways from maternal disordered eating to disordered eating behaviors in female adolescents. The model was …

I’M Sexy And I Know It: The Impact Of Sexual Self-Esteem And Body Satisfaction On Disordered Eating Behavior, Marissa Parks

Scripps Senior Theses

Rates of dieting, disordered eating, and eating disorders are continuing to rise in the United States. Many factors influence decisions to engage in problematic eating, including body satisfaction and self-esteem. This paper outlines two studies that examined these relationships and proposed an intervention to reduce disordered eating. In the first study participants were primed to think about a time when they had negative thoughts about their intelligence, their body, or their sexual self-esteem and then measured body image avoidance, self-esteem, sexual self-esteem, disordered eating behaviors, well-being, and depressive symptoms. Consistent with previous research, it was found that having participants recall …

The Epidemiology Of Somatic Depression And Eating Disorders: The Relationship Between Depressive Subtypes And Symptoms Of Disordered Eating, Anita M. Sicignano

Dissertations and Theses

Depression is known to affect females in much greater numbers than males, with about three times as many women having the disorder as men (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A similar gender disparity can be seen in eating disorders, where up to nine in ten sufferers are female (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Studies have shown that most of the gender difference in depression occurs as a result of women experiencing a form of depression involving a number of body-centric symptoms, including headaches, weight changes, fatigue, and insomnia, which has been termed “somatic depression” (Silverstein et al., 2013). Some of the symptoms, …

Statistical Fit And Factor Structure Of The Food-Life Questionnaire In Emerging Adult Undergraduate Students, Arielle Wolinsky

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Food-Life Questionnaire (FLQ) is a psychometrically sound measure of beliefs and attitudes towards food that was initially developed and validated for use with a general adult population; however, the psychometric properties of the measure have yet to be examined in an emerging adult population. The constructs captured by the FLQ are particularly relevant in emerging adulthood, because it is a time of increased risk for the development of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Using data from a large, demographically diverse sample of emerging adult undergraduate students (n = 679), the current study evaluated the fit of the original five-factor …

A Heavy Burden: Associations Between Sexual Minority Status, Mental Health, And Bmi In Women, Alison E. A. Goldblatt

Graduate Masters Theses

Sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk of elevated body mass index (BMI) compared to heterosexual women, which increases their vulnerability to a variety of chronic diseases. This increased risk of elevated BMI is likely due to unique minority stressors faced by sexual minority individuals, such as internalized heterosexism and discrimination. Minority stressors are associated with poorer mental and physical health among SMW, and SMW may engage in unhealthy coping strategies, like binge eating, to cope with these minority stressors. Research suggests that bisexual women, and other women with non-monosexual orientations, face elevated risks to their physical and psychological …

What Symptoms Of Disordered Gambling, Disordered Eating, Anxiety, And Depression Co-Occur? The Explanatory Power Of Network Analysis, Nassim Tabri, Melissa Salmon, Samantha Hollingshead, Michael Wohl

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

An abstract (not to exceed 200 words)

Disordered gamblers often exhibit comorbid psychiatric disorders, however, little is known about how or why these disorders co-occur. We posit that comorbidity is likely the result of one or more symptoms of disordered gambling being strongly associated with one or more symptoms of other disorders. To test this idea, we conducted a network analysis to identify relations between individual symptoms of disordered gambling, disordered eating, anxiety, and depression in a representative sample of Canadians from the Bay of Quinte region of Ontario (N=4121). Results indicated that chasing one’s losses was a central symptom …

Disordered Eating And Body Dysmorphic Concerns In Asian American Women: Sociocultural And Culture-Specific Predictors, Liya Akoury

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The sociocultural idealization of thinness and Eurocentric features (e.g., lighter skin) is ubiquitous in Westernized cultures, yet only some women internalize these ideals and/or perceive heightened pressures to conform to such ideals. Elevated internalization and perceived pressures to obtain thinness and Eurocentric features may contribute to disordered eating and unique types of body dysmorphic concerns (e.g., dissatisfaction with skin color, eye size/ shape), respectively. Such difficulties may be particularly relevant for ethnic minority women; however, little research exists examining such effects. Further, few studies have comprehensively examined the intersection between sociocultural and culture-specific (e.g., ethnic identity; biculturalism) predictors on disordered …

An Exploration Of Racial/Ethnic Differences In The Association Between Perfectionism And Disordered Eating In College Students, Neha J. Goel, C Blair Burnette, Suzanne E. Mazzeo

Graduate Research Posters

Perfectionism is a robust risk factor for eating disorders (EDs). Although individually-oriented dimensions of perfectionism are strongly related to eating pathology, less is known about the contribution of parent-oriented dimensions, specifically parental expectations (PE) and parental criticisms (PC). Further, few studies have investigated these effects within racially/ethnically diverse samples. However, PE and PC might be particularly relevant to eating pathology among certain cultural groups, such as those from collectivistic and interdependent societies. This study examined associations among PE, PC, and ED symptoms across racial/ethnic groups. Undergraduates (N=706; 74.8% Female; 48% White, 19.8% Black, 7.1% Latinx, 16% Asian, 9.1% …

Are Mixed-Sex And Single-Sex Groups Equally Effective Across Males And Females? A Quasi-Experimental Investigation Of A Cognitive Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Program In Mixed-Sex High School Populations, Christina L. Verzijl

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Body Project is a cognitive dissonance-based eating disorder (ED) preventive intervention program with ample empirical support among adolescent and undergraduate female samples. Recently, community stakeholders and data suggest that preventive efforts must also target body satisfaction and increasing ED symptomatology seen in males. The current study examined the efficacy of a male-only (MO), a mixed-sex (MS), and a traditional female-only (FO) Body Project program compared to a minimal attention control (AC) in a community sample. Participants included adolescents male and female students (N = 182) aged 13-19 years across three high school sites. Participants completed self-report measures assessing body …

A Longitudinal Exploration Of Drive For Leanness: Potential Uniqueness, Sex Neutrality, Adaptive Nature, And Sociocultural Fit, Brittany Lang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historically disordered eating research has been gendered with models focusing on women’s pursuit of a thin ideal, as well as men’s attempts to obtain a muscular ideal. The motivations to achieve these ideals are called the drive for thinness (DT) and drive for muscularity (DM). More recently, a cultural shift has been noted in that ideal bodies are converging across sexes to a lean ideal, with the associated motivation being labeled the drive for leanness (DL). As DL is a nascent construct, little is known about its relationships with DT and DM, or if it predicts or is predicted by …

Implicit And Explicit Attitudes Toward Physical Appearance Among Recurrent And Non-Binge Eating College Women, Mindy L. Mcentee

Psychology ETDs

Research has found that among individuals who binge eat, overvaluation of body weight/shape and internalization of a thin ideal are associated with higher levels of distress and functional impairment. These findings suggest implicit attitudes and beliefs may play an important role in understanding the complex relations between one’s cognitions and subsequent eating behavior; however, much of the research on binge eating has relied on explicit self-report measures which may not accurately reflect the way individuals automatically process body weight/shape information or the meaning one has associated with these characteristics. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature …

Development And Validation Of The Exercise Appearance Motivations Scale, Leah S. Boepple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exercise rooted in changing one’s appearance is associated with increased disordered eating and body image pathology. There are a limited number of scales assessing appearance-based exercise, and those that do are methodologically flawed. The aim of the current work was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of appearance-based exercise (Exercise Appearance Motivations Scale (EAMS)). Female undergraduate students (N = 650) completed an online survey designed to assess the EAMS’ psychometric properties. Factor analysis and hierarchical regressions were used for measure development and validation. Five factors of the EAMS were identified through factor analysis: muscularity, appearance, societal pressures, shape/weight, and avoidance/shame. …

An Exploration Of The Collegiate Coach-Athlete Relationship And Its Impact On Female Athlete Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Disordered Eating And Body Image, Bridget E. Smith

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Collegiate female athletes face the challenges of conflicting feminine body ideals in society and in their sport all while striving for athletic success. Coaches are believed to play a significant role in an athlete’s development, and thus have potential to (knowing or unknowingly) reinforce, or even introduce, eating pathology as a means to achieve athletic performance and/or a body ideal. Previous research has found a link between insecure attachment and subsequent eating pathology in athletes and non-athletes alike. The coach can be viewed as an important attachment figure in an athlete’s life and development and thus serve a mediating role …