Browsing by Subject "Eating disorders"
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Item A study of comorbidity in high school students: relationships of self-reported depressive symptoms, eating attitudes, body dissatisfaction, self esteem, and social support in adolescent males and females(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Santos, Melissa; Richards, Steven; Hendrick, Susan S.; Borrego, Joaquin P.; Bleckley, M. KathrynDepression is one of the most common mental health disorders seen in adolescence. Low self-esteem, lack of social support and poor body image have been found to be risk factors for depression. However, these risk factors have not adequately explained why adolescent female rates of depressive episodes rise to almost twice that of males. One of many hypotheses proposed in the research is that the concurrent increase seen in eating disorders in adolescent females may be able to explain part of this precipitous rise in female cases of depression. This line of research proposes that a portion of the increase in adolescent depression in females can be explained, in part, by comorbid eating disorders symptomatology. The present study explored this hypothesis, along with related issues in comorbidity. This study had several aims. The primary focus of the study was to look at the comorbidity between disordered eating and depressive symptomatology in male and female high school students. A secondary aim of the study was to look at the relationship between disordered eating and depressive symptoms, along with several of their risk factors: low social support, low self-esteem and low body satisfaction. In particular, when the effects of these three risk factors are statistically controlled for, does disordered eating contribute above and beyond these risk factors to depressive symptoms? Finally, a modified version of the gender additive model was examined which hypothesized that a combination of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction variables combine to increase depressive symptoms in females. Two hundred and two high school students participated in this study. Results indicate that depression and eating disorders are two significant problems facing both male and female adolescents today. Forty percent of students met criteria for possible significant depressive symptomatology while 12% of students met criteria for possible significant disordered eating symptomatology. Comorbidity was seen in 12% of students who met criteria for significant depressive and disordered eating symptoms. The modified gender additive model was not supported in this study. Implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Item A study of comorbidity in high school students: Relationships of self-reported depressive symptoms, eating attitudes, body dissatisfaction, self esteem, and social support in adolescent males and females(2005-08) Santos, Melissa; Richards, Steven; Hendrick, Susan S.; Borrego, Joaquin P.; Bleckley, M. KathrynDepression is one of the most common mental health disorders seen in adolescence. Low self-esteem, lack of social support and poor body image have been found to be risk factors for depression. However, these risk factors have not adequately explained why adolescent female rates of depressive episodes rise to almost twice that of males. One of many hypotheses proposed in the research is that the concurrent increase seen in eating disorders in adolescent females may be able to explain part of this precipitous rise in female cases of depression. This line of research proposes that a portion of the increase in adolescent depression in females can be explained, in part, by comorbid eating disorders symptomatology. The present study explored this hypothesis, along with related issues in comorbidity. This study had several aims. The primary focus of the study was to look at the comorbidity between disordered eating and depressive symptomatology in male and female high school students. A secondary aim of the study was to look at the relationship between disordered eating and depressive symptoms, along with several of their risk factors: low social support, low self-esteem and low body satisfaction. In particular, when the effects of these three risk factors are statistically controlled for, does disordered eating contribute above and beyond these risk factors to depressive symptoms? Finally, a modified version of the gender additive model was examined which hypothesized that a combination of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction variables combine to increase depressive symptoms in females. Two hundred and two high school students participated in this study. Results indicate that depression and eating disorders are two significant problems facing both male and female adolescents today. Forty percent of students met criteria for possible significant depressive symptomatology while 12% of students met criteria for possible significant disordered eating symptomatology. Comorbidity was seen in 12% of students who met criteria for significant depressive and disordered eating symptoms. The modified gender additive model was not supported in this study. Implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Item An investigation into the relationship between eating disorder attitudes and coronary heart disease risk factors(Texas Tech University, 1997-12) Cherry, Julie CarlileThe purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between eating disorder attitudes and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. Forty female undergraduate students served as subjects. The data collection consisted of an eating disorder attitude survey and a CHD risk factor analysis. The resuls of a multiple regression analysis indicated two variables, drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction, which contribute to the explained variance of CHD risk. T-tesis revealed differences in CHD between the high and low-scoring groups of drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction. It was concluded that drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction contribute to the explained variance in CHD risk, and the high and low-scoring groups of these 2 subscales had significantly different CHD risk levels.Item Attitudes toward love and intimacy in women with eating disorder characteristics(Texas Tech University, 1991-08) Raciti, MariaEating disorder literature has supported the idea that women with eating disorder characteristics have difficulty in intimate relationships. Literature has also noted that an eating disorder may be complicated by a concurrent affective disorder, substance abuse problem, or weight problem. Within the context of an intimate relationship, such a combination is likely to threaten the quality of interpersonal attitudes and behavior. The current study explored theories proposing relationship difficulties in women with eating disorder characteristics, in a sample of 208 young women. Results indicated that eating disorder characteristics were most consistently positively related to a possessive, dependent, and game-playing approach to love, and most consistently negatively related to a passionate or companionate approach to love. Also, eating disorder characteristics were found to be positively correlated with open, casual, and instrumental attitudes toward sexuality. Negative correlations were found between eating disorder characteristics and sexual self-esteem. Eating disorder characteristics were also found to be highly correlated with depression. Many of the relationships between eating disorder characteristics and interpersonal variables were reduced when the effects of depression were controlled. Other interesting findings included positive correlations between eating disorder characteristics and reported degree of substance use, and between eating disorder characteristics and problematic weight history. Also, negative correlations were found between eating disorder characteristics and sexual selfesteem.Item A community of starvation : the convergence of teenage girls on pro-eating disorder websites(2007-05) Grant, Brea Colleen, 1981-; Engelhardt, Elizabeth S. D. (Elizabeth Sanders Delwiche), 1969-In this paper, I will explore the topic of young women and eating disorders. I will specifically focus on the use of the Internet as a place for these women to express the new idea of being pro-eating disorder, as in choosing to have an eating disorder. These women create pages to encourage others to maintain their eating disorders and to find a community that will do the same for them. I studied over 20 pages created for this purpose in this paper. I begin by finding the similarities in the pro-eating disorder websites and the possible cultural situations that have allowed for these types of websites to emerge in such great number. In the second chapter of this paper, I am interested in the ways in which these websites form communities for those who participate in them, both in a silent and active way. The nature of the Internet creates a new type of community for those who choose to be involved in the pro-eating disorder discussion. In the last chapter of this paper, I studied pro-ed pages on the social networking site, Myspace. I was able to compare the Myspace pages that centered on an individual and those in the previous chapters that express the needs of a community.Item Comparing "models": The best fit for social predictors of bulimic pathology(2006-08) Whittaker, Aimee E.; Robitschek, Christine; Clopton, James R.; Hendrick, Susan S.; Hardin, Erin E.The number and variety of theories and research on bulimia nervosa (BN) and its related symptoms indicate that using a multidimensional approach when examining the etiology and risk factors of the disorder is paramount because no single factor seems to be predictive of who will and will not develop BN. More specifically, approaches differentiating among biological, psychological, and social components are often considered when attempting to determine the etiology of BN (Stieger & Seguin, 1999). With respect to social components, different aspects of interactions with the environment (and the people within it) may serve as contributors to bulimic pathology. Although much research has focused on a few specific dimensions of social interactions involved in eating pathology, little research has examined a wide range of social interactions in the prediction of bulimic behaviors and attitudes. Therefore, one purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine the relationships of a wide variety of social interactions with eating pathology, specifically, BN. The social variables included as predictors of bulimic pathology in this study are related to sociocultural encouragement of the thin-ideal, family functioning, and social support. Questionnaires, which also included three measures of bulimic pathology were completed by 289 European American female college students. The main data analysis was structural equation modeling. This analysis determined if the predictors fit into higher order factor structures differentiating between types of social interactions and sources of social interactions. Two models were tested to establish the best fit in regard to predicting bulimic symptoms. Model A (see Figure 1) investigated the prediction of bulimic symptoms according to types of social interactions. Model B (See Figure 2) investigated the prediction of bulimic symptoms according to sources of social interactions. In sum, the current study examined whether the social variables included in this study were better predictors of bulimic pathology when grouped according to types of social interactions (such as social reinforcement, family functioning, and social support), or when grouped according to sources of social interactions (the media, family, and peers). Results regarding differences in model fit are discussed, and implications for theory, research, and practice are explored.Item Eating disorders: a multiple-case investigation of the Internet e-mail correspondence of women's lived experience(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Collins, Perry L.This study examines the lived experiences of women with eating disorders. The data consists of several (n=4) participants' written correspondence on a weekly basis over four months via electronic mail. Using an interpretive paradigm, the data from this multiple-case study was analyzed using a constant comparative method that employed thematic analysis and axial coding. Any themes that emerged were explicated and explored further. Accounts of the participants' lived experiences indicated that many women with eating disorders perceive that precipitating events in their childhood such as sexual abuse, perfectionism and rigidity in the family, poor communication styles in the family, and extemal influences such as peer and societal values and beliefs have lead to the development of disordered eating patterns in their lives. Furthermore, the participants believe that since the development of their eating disorder, there are certain factors such as feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-esteem that continue to perpetuate their disordered eating patterns. The participants' writings further indicated that their eating disorders affect every aspect of their lives including their relationships with family and friends, their behavior in work and school settings, their emotions and cognitions, their sexuality, spirituality, and body image. These women explored their daily routines in great detail, discussing the binge experience, purging through the use of laxatives, diuretics, and excessive exercise, and environmental cues that trigger disordered eating behaviors. The participants addressed their attempts at "getting better" and described the various strategies that have employed. Overall, the participants indicate that participating in this intemet-based study via electronic mail correspondence was a positive experience for them. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the daily lived experiences of women with eating disorders. The implications of this study are emancipating for these women and should lead to more sensitive treatment approaches with those who have eating disorders. Further research is needed in gaining a better understanding of women with eating disorders. Finally, future research should continue to explore the viability of the Intemet as a medium for data collection.Item Ethnicity and acculturation as moderators of the relationship between media exposure, awareness, and thin-ideal internalization in African American women(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Henry, Keisha DenythiaThe moderating effects of ethnicity and acculturation on three relationships: media exposure and awareness of sociocultural appearance norms, awareness of social ideals and thin-ideal internalization, and thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction were examined. European American students and African American participants from both predominantly White and historically Black colleges and universities completed measures of media exposure, awareness of socicultural attitudes towards appearance, internalization of appearance norms, body dissatisfaction, and acculturation. The LISREL 8.5 program was used to perform structural modeling analysis using the Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square and associated robust standard errors to test the relationship between ethnic groups. The results support previous findings regarding the mediational effect of internalization on the relationship between awareness and body dissatisfaction, and also provided evidence for the relationship between media exposure and awareness of sociocultural norms. The relationship between media exposure and awareness, and awareness and internalization were similar for both groups, while relationship between internalization and body dissatisfaction was stronger for European American women than for African American women. These results indicate ethnicity may serve to protect some women against the development of eating disorder symptoms, as well as the role of acculturation as a moderator between media exposure and awareness and between internalization and body dissatisfaction in African American women.Item My body is a temple : eating disturbances, religious involvement and mental health among young adult women(2007-08) Henderson, Andrea Katheryn; Regnerus, MarkA growing body of literature outlines the undesirable health consequences of eating disturbances. However, little attention has been given to the possible mitigating effects of cultural institutions, such as religion, in the lives of women suffering from such pathologies. In this study, I contribute to this gap by asking, "What is the relationship between eating disturbances, religious involvement and mental health?" I address this question by: (a) outlining a series of arguments linking eating disturbances, specific aspects of religious involvement, and mental health; (b) identifying several distinct hypotheses from this discussion; and (c) empirically testing these relevant hypotheses with a nationally representative sample of young adult women in the US. I find that various aspects of religious involvement mitigates the deleterious effects of eating disturbances on depression and self-esteem, lending support for the moderating (buffering) model. I conclude by identifying the limitations of the present study and by suggesting promising directions for future research.Item Predictors of bulimic behavior in college women(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Young, Emily A.The body of research on bulimia in clinical and nonclinical populations is steadily growing, and studies using samples of college women indicate that bulimic behaviors such as binge eating and vomiting occur with much greater frequency in the female population than do clinical cases of bulimia. This dissertation examined whether perfectionism, low self-esteem, and perceived pressure from the family to be thin predicted any additional variance in eating-disordered behavior in a sample of college women after variables that were found to be significant in the previous study (i.e., depression, body dissatisfaction, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape) had been taken into account. This study also examined whether subtypes of perfectionism accounted for more of the variance in bulimic behavior than a global perfectionism score. Like the previous study, self-reported body dissatisfaction, depression, and peer pressure to maintain a thin body shape were signifícant predictors of bulimic behavior in this sample. Perceived weight-related pressure from the family was also a significant predictor. Although the global measure of perfectionism was not significant, one of the subscales, parental expectations, were found to significantly predict lower levels of bulimic behavior. Parental expectations were also found to moderate the effects of peer influence on bulimic behavior. It is hoped that the results of this study may be useful in identifying useful targets for clinical intervention for women with disturbed eating patterns.Item Predictors of eating disorders in college-aged women : the role of competition and relational aggression(2012-08) Scaringi, Vanessa; Rochlen, Aaron B.; Rude, Stephanie S.; Whittaker, Tiffany; Awad, Germine H.; Denoma, Jill H.The serious consequences and high prevalence rates of eating disorders among women have been well documented (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Birmingham, Su, Hlynasky, Goldner, & Gao, 2005; Crow, Praus, & Thuras, 1999; Steinhausen, 2009). Factors linked to the development of an eating disorder include competitiveness and group membership (Basow, Foran ,& Bookwala, 2007; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Grunberg, & Rodin, 1990). The purpose of this study was to further examine risk factors associated with eating disorder symptomatology by examining the role of sorority membership, different forms of competition, and relational aggression. Sorority membership was hypothesized to impact a participant’s eating disorder symptomatology, competitiveness, and relational aggression. Additionally, this study looked at three different forms of competition (Hypercompetition, Female Competition for mates, and Female Competition for status) and sought to understand which form of competitiveness best predicts eating disorder symptomatology. Female Competition for mates was hypothesized to best predict disordered eating. Lastly, relational aggression was expected to moderate the relationship between competition among women and eating disorder behaviors. An increase in relational aggression was hypothesized to strengthen the relationship between competition among women and eating disorder symptomatology. The reasoning for this relationship was based on an evolutionary framework that proposes aggression is needed to drive competition (Shuster, 1983). Participants included 407 undergraduate women, with a split of 211 sorority members and 196 non-sorority women. Measures included four subscales from the Eating Disorder Inventory (Garner et al., 1983), the Hypercompetitive Attitudes Scale (Ryckman et al., 1996), the Female Competition for mates scale, the Female Competition for status scale (Faer et al., 2005), and the Indirect Aggression Scale (Forrest et al., 2005). Separate regression analyses were conducted to answer each research question. Participants also answered qualitative questions after completing the surveys. Analyses revealed sorority membership significantly predicted a participant’s Female Competition for status. Female Competition for mates was found to best predict both body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness such that the higher a participant’s competition for mates score, the lower these eating disorder symptoms. No moderating effects of relational aggression were found in the model. Additionally, social desirability was included in the regressions as a means of controlling for a participant’s tendency to self-report desirably. An important surprise finding was that social desirability was a significant predictor of eating disorder symptomatology, competition, and relational aggression. Exploratory qualitative analyses suggested women’s acceptance of their bodies, while their conversations with friends included self-deprecating ways of discussing their appearance. Findings also suggest sorority membership predicts higher female competition for mates and status. Results reveal a relationship between competition and disordered eating which suggests important considerations for clinicians to explore with clients who may experience eating disorder symptomatology.Item Predictors of eating disorders in college-aged women : the role of competition and relational aggression(2010-05) Scaringi, Vanessa; Rude, Stephanie Sandra; Rochlen, AaronDue to the seriousness and prevalence of eating disorders, exploring the etiology of these disorders and identifying specific at-risk populations is crucial. One promising risk factor that has been linked to the development of eating disorders is competitiveness (Burckle, Ryckman, Gold, Thornton, & Audesse, 1999; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Grunberg, & Rodin, 1990). Additionally, specific populations of women have been shown to experience higher rates of eating disorders. Women in sororities are one such group identified with higher rates of disordered eating than their non-sorority counterparts (Basow, Foran, Bookwala, 2007; Crandall,1988; Schulken, Pinciaro, Sawyer, Jensen, & Hoban, 1997). Therefore this study will seek to understand more about how competitiveness may differentially impact this population of women and contribute to higher rates of eating disorder symptomatology. This project has several objectives. First, the prevalence of eating disorders, competition among women, and relational aggression among women in sororities will be addressed. In order to assess whether women in sororities differ from women who are not in sororities on measures of eating disorders symptomatology, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be conducted. The constructs of competitiveness and relational aggression will be compared amongwomen in sororities and their non-sorority counterparts. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) will be conducted to determine whether there are mean differences between women in sororities and those not on four constructs of competitiveness (hypercompetitiveness, personal development competitiveness, female competition for status competitiveness, and female competition for mates competitiveness). Finally, an ANOVA will be conducted to determine if there are mean differences between women in sororities and women not in sororities on a measure of relational aggression. The second focus of this project is to examine if different forms of competitiveness are better at predicting eating disorders. The constructs of competitiveness that have been individually demonstrated to predict eating disorder behavior will be included. Multiple regression will be used to examine how well knowing a participant’s type of competitive attitude will help explain eating disorder symptomatology. Lastly, because the literature has not yet explored how relational aggression relates to the development of eating disorders, the final purpose of this study will be to understand this relationship. In attempting to understand this relationship, a mediation model will be performed. Participants for this study will include 270 undergraduate women from the Educational Psychology subject pool.Item Reading eating disorder life stories through body narrative analysis(2012-05) Sorelle-Miner, Danielle; Bell, Nancy J.; Harris, Kitty S.; Sharp, Elizabeth A.This study seeks to understand the role of the body in eating disorders, the recovery process, and in the context of women’s lives after recovery by employing an embodiment perspective. From this viewpoint, the body is seen as central in explanations of all aspects of human thoughts and actions and as such is integral to identity formation. Cultural factors are understood as being imbibed by the embodied person rather than as being separate entities. Using an embodiment perspective requires that questions be posed differently. Rather than focusing on how societal factors act upon women and create body dissatisfaction, this study addresses the lived experience of being in a particular body within the sociocultural context and how this impacts women’s understandings of the process from the time they initiated their eating disorder, through recovery, and into their present day lives. The method of the study is body narrative analysis. This approach draws from concepts in the literature on body narratives as well as from the more general narrative identity literature. The analysis was based on multiple interviews over a two-three year period with three women who are in recovery from an eating disorder. It involved the identification of nuclear episodes in these interviews and the evaluation of the episodes according to four concepts from the narrative literature-- body-self, illness narrative, body imago, and ideological setting. The primary questions addressed in the study were: (a) How do the four analytic concepts come together in providing a picture of the connections between body and eating disorders, with emphasis on recovery?; (b) What are the across time differences in configurations of these concepts as indicated by the analysis of episodes within the life story? and (c) How are individual differences and similarities revealed in these configurations? Women’s narratives differ dramatically from the initiation of their eating disorder behaviors to their impetus for recovery and even how their life transpires after recovery. The women have a very different presentation to their bodies and follow different body narratives through recovery. It is important that women be allowed to tell their body narrative in their own voice to truly address their needs in initial and longer term recovery from an eating disorder. Women’s voices must be heard in the design of research and in treatment approaches.Item The relationship between self-compassion and disordered eating behaviors : body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, and contingent self-worth as mediators(2011-12) Finley-Straus, Angela Danielle; Neff, Kristin; Bigler, Rebecca; Drum, Dave; Falbo, Toni; Rochlen, AaronThe concept of self-compassion has been gathering interest for researchers in recent years, as it appears to offer an array of benefits to wellbeing. This study investigated the potential role of self-compassion as a protective factor against disordered eating behaviors. It also examined the mediating roles of three potential variables: body dissatisfaction, perfectionism and contingent self-worth. Given modern representations of the female ideal, failure to achieve or adequately conform to such standards often poses psychological challenges for women and girls. Self-compassion encompasses kind, mindful self-treatment and may be an ideal protective factor against disordered eating. It has also been linked with lower body dissatisfaction, maladaptive perfectionism, and contingent self-worth. The present study found that dissatisfaction with one’s body, as well as a tendency to judge one’s personal worth based on appearance fully mediated the relationship between self-compassion and both restrained and emotional disordered eating respectively. Therefore, a self-compassionate attitude may serve as a protective factor against engaging in disordered eating vis-à-vis strengthening young women’s abilities to look at their bodies in a more compassionate and unconditionally accepting way.Item The multidetermined nature of bulimia nervosa in adolescent girls: a cross-cultural examination(Texas Tech University, 1998) Joiner, Gregory W.; Kashubaek, Susan; Cbgan, Rosemary; Handriek, Susan; Clopton, James R.Eating disorders are pathological disruptions in normal eating patterns found primarily in adolescent and young adult women. Intentional self-starvation (anorexia nervosa) and failure to maintain body weight have a long history of being recognized as pathological. Yet, bulimia nervosa, or gorging and purging accompanying anorexia, was not officially recognized as an eating disorder until 1980 whan it was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition) (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). Tha DSM-IV (APA, 1994) describes bulimia nervosa (see Figure 1.1) as characterized by repeated incidents of binge or uncontrolled eating, recurrent attempts to inappropriately compensate for massive calorie intake in order to prevent weight gain, and use of weight and body shape to evaluate self-worth. Tha DSMIV recognizes two different catagories of bulimia nervosa, the purging and non-purging types. The purging type includes the use of salf-induced vomiting, and the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas to evacuate from the body tha large quantities of food eaten. In the non-purging type, fasting or excessive exercise is used to compensate for the high calorie intake without attempting to void food from the body.Item The relationship between the super woman construct and eating disorder symptoms and body image dissatisfaction among graduate students, medical students, and law students(Texas Tech University, 1999-08) Lochner, Laura MyersRates of eating disorder problems and body dissatisfaction among women have risen in the West since the 1960s (Hoek, 1993; Stice, 1994; Vandereycken & Hoek, 1992; Klemchuk, Hutchinson & Frank, 1990). Of the numerous theories available to explain this situation, the sociocultural theory appears to be the most robust as it contends that the unrealistically thin standard for a female body, promulgated by Western cultures, promotes eating disorder and body image problems (Bordo, 1993; Fallon, 1990; Waller et al., 1994). Research suggests that acceptance of sociocultural messages for a thin body is related to eating disorder symptoms and body dissatisfaction (Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994; Stormer & Thompson, 1996). Researchers have examined whether certain women are more affected by sociocultural messages and are thus more likely to experience body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms (Hamilton & Waller, 1993; Stormer & Thompson; Waller, Hamilton & Shaw, 1992). This dissertation examined the intemahzation of sociocultural messages for a thin body in women pursuing professionallevel education; graduate students, medical school students, and law school students. An aspect of the sociocultural theory that has received a fair amount of attention in the literature is the Super Woman Constmct (SWC; Steiner-Adair, 1986), which is defined as: (a) valued autonomy, (b) focused on their physical appearance, (c) valued involvement in numerous roles, and (d) valued masculine personality characteristics. This dissertation expanded on Steiner-Adair's definition of the SW and study the SWC in women more likely to be engaged in a "Super Woman" lifestyle; graduate-level female students. SW appear to be driven to excel in both masculine (career) and feminine (relationships, children) pursuits. The SWC, as operationalized in this dissertation, is comprised of: (a) adherence to sociocultural standards of attractiveness, (b) adherence to masculine and (c) feminine traits, (d) independence in adult attachment relationships, and (e) greater achievement motivation. A questionnaire survey, comprised of a demographic sheet, and measures of body image dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, adult attachment and achievement motivation was mailed to 761 currently enrolled professional-track women at Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Four hundred and thirty-six complete and usable questionnaires were retumed for an overall response rate of 57%. Results indicated that greater adherence to the SWC was associated with higher reported symptoms of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in professional-track women. Greater intemahzation of the socioculturally imposed thin body ideal was found to be associated with more eating disorder symptoms and greater body dissatisfaction. Achievement motivation was not foimd to serve as a moderating variable in the relationship between acceptance of sociocultural pressures to be thin and eating disorder symptoms and body dissatisfaction.Item Utilizing clinical practice to inform research on the treatment of eating disorders(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Haas, Heather LauraA substantial amount of research on the treatment of eating disorders has accmed in recent years. However, there is growing concern that clinicians do not actually use information from the research when treating clients with eating disorders. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, clinicians who had varying degrees of experience in the treatment of eating disorders (N = 126) were surveyed regarding treatment practices used with their most recent eating disorder client. Second, a comprehensive content analysis of published treatment outcome studies on eating disorders (N = 76) was conducted. Results from the clinicians' description of their work with their client with an eating disorder were compared to the results from the content analysis in order to directly compare what is being done in clinical work to what is being advocated in the research. Chi-square analyses were used to identify specific components of treatments in clinical settings that are different from treatments in research settings. The results indicated that treatments of eating disorders in clinical settings are significantly different from treatments in research settings along several variables including the gender of the client, the type of eating disorder exhibited by the client, the treatment modality used, the format of the session (i.e., individual, group, or family), and the types of issues addressed in. therapy. Finally, logistic regression analyses were completed to determine whether certain client or therapist variables reliably predicted the use of empirically-validated treatments. Results indicated that there were no therapist or client variables that were related to whether or not a client received an empirically-validated treatment. The results of the study suggest a strong need for better collaboration between the scientist and the practitioner. Clinicians have much to leam from research regarding treatments that have been proven to be effective. Researchers have much to leam from clinicians conceming the types of complications and problems seen when working with clients. It is through the collaboration of researchers and clinicians that the effective treatments of eating disorders will progress.