The asymptotic behavior of the sequence {u n } of positive first eigenfunctions for a class of eigenvalue problems is studied in a bounded domain Ω ⊂ R N with smooth boundary Ω. We prove u n → || || −1 L 2 (Ω) , where is the distance function to Ω. Our study complements some earlier results by Payne and Philippin, Bhattacharya, DiBenedetto, and Manfredi, and Kawohl obtained in relation with the "torsional creep problem."