| dc.description.abstract | Body image disturbance is an important aspect of both
anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. To date, there
has been little agreement on how to define and measure
this. The current study views body image as a complex
concept which reguires a multidimensional approach to
measurement. Participants consisted of 60 women
between the ages of 16-42. Thirty women diagnosed with
either anorexia or bulimia formed the clinical group
and thirty women drawn from the general population and
screened using the Eating Disorder Symptom Checklist
(EDI-SC) formed a control group. Subjects completed a
battery of psychometric tests which included the Eating
Disorder Inventory-II (EDI-2), the Multidimensional
Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI), the Beck Depression
Inventory (BDI), and the Image Marking Procedure (IMP).
Analysis revealed significant group differences on all
subscales of the EDI-2, MSEI, and BDI as well as
unanticipated significant mean differences on three of
the measures on the IMP, (F=17.74, df=27,32, p<0.01).
In addition, several significant correlations were
found among the various measures within each group.
Results of the study suggest that body image includes cognitive, attitudinal and perceptual components, is a
significant part of a womans' self-concept, and that
with respect to the groups in this study, body image
disturbance can accurately differentiate between women
with eating disorders and those without. | |
