Eating Attitudes and Behaviors Among Female College Students

Abstract

The authors assessed the influences of several risk factors-self-esteem, history of unwanted sexual contact (USC), depression, and sorority membership-on eating-related and weight-related attitudes and behaviors. Findings provide support for the roles of self-esteem, depression, and USC on restricting attitudes. According to the authors' model, these independent variables predicted restricting attitudes that then predicted restricting behaviors. Implications for preventive interventions and the study's limitations are discussed.

College Student Childhood Exposure to Parental Loyalty Conflicts

“…Other issues appear to be the focus of much more research attention, such as alcohol consumption (Doumas, Kane, Navarro, & Roman, 2011) and eating disorders (Morris, Parra, & Stender, 2011). The current research findings begin to clarify why mental health professionals serving college students need to be trained and educated on this topic as well.…”

Disordered eating, depression, and cognitive vulnerabilities in college women.

“…Specifically, I applied the hopelessness theory of depression -stating that the endorsement of global attributions, stable attributions, inferences about the consequences of an event, and inferences about the self, but not internal attributions is associated with depressive symptomatology -to disordered eating behaviors. The proposed association between depression and disordered eating behavior is already firmly established in the literature (Hudson et al, 2007;Johnson et al, 2002;Kurth et al, 1995;Liechty & Lee, 2013;Morris et al, 2011;Stice et al, 2004;Wildes et al, 2005;Zonnevylle-Bender et al, 2004). Furthermore, the evidence that the relationship is bidirectional is also well supported (Stice et al, 2004;Morris et al, 2011;Puccio et al, 2016).…”

“…The proposed association between depression and disordered eating behavior is already firmly established in the literature (Hudson et al, 2007;Johnson et al, 2002;Kurth et al, 1995;Liechty & Lee, 2013;Morris et al, 2011;Stice et al, 2004;Wildes et al, 2005;Zonnevylle-Bender et al, 2004). Furthermore, the evidence that the relationship is bidirectional is also well supported (Stice et al, 2004;Morris et al, 2011;Puccio et al, 2016). Second, the relationship between a negative inference style and depression has been supported in the literature, with little debate on whether a negative inference style influences depressive symptoms (Abramson et al, 1989;Alloy et al, 2000;Safford et al, 2007).…”

“…Beyond that, evidence that depressive symptoms predict disordered eating behavior has been provided by numerous studies that followed adolescent girls into adulthood (Johnson, et al, 2002;Liechty & Lee, 2013;Morris et al, 2011;Stice et al, 2002). However, arguments for a bidirectional relationship amongst disordered eating and depressive symptomatology exist in the literature, as researchers have found conflicting evidence regarding the etiology of disordered eating behavior and depression.…”

“…The proposed study is based on the literature supporting that disordered eating behaviors are a concern in college populations, especially for women (Hoerr, Bokram, Lugo, Bivins, & Keast, 2002;Lipson & Sonneville, 2017;Prouty, Protinsky, & Canady, 2002;Reinking & Alexander, 2005). Further, depressive symptomatology and disordered eating behaviors are commonly associated with one another (Hudson et al, 2007;Johnson et al, 2002;Gitimu et al, 2016;Kurth et al, 1995;Liechty & Lee, 2013;Morris, Parra, & Stender, 2011;Stice, Presnell, & Spangler, 2004;Wildes et al, 2005;Zonnevylle-Bender et al, 2004). While this relationship has been clearly supported in the literature, several gaps exist.…”