Abstract
Purpose This study set out to disentangle the roles of body size, body shame and negative urgency on bulimic symptomatology in a sample of college women. We predicted that body shame would mediate the relationship between body size and bulimic symptomatology: with increasing body size, the greater would be the experience of body shame and, in turn, the greater the bulimic symptomatology. We also predicted that negative urgency would exacerbate this mediation pathway, and that the moderated mediation model would occur over and above current levels of depression.MethodA convenience sample of 237 college women indicated their age, height and weight and then completed measures of body shame, negative urgency, depression and bulimic symptomatology. Bootstrap analysis was used to test the predicted moderation mediation model.ResultsThe bootstrap analysis supported all predictions. Thus, with greater the increase in body size, the greater was the body shame and the more frequent bulimic symptomatology. Furthermore, negative urgency moderated the relationship between body shame and bulimic symptomatology, such that those with both higher negative urgency and body shame had more frequent bulimic symptomatology.ConclusionsResults suggest that those college women higher in both BMI and negative urgency are likely to experience higher levels of bulimic symptoms. These women may benefit from emotion regulation interventions targeted at preventing, as well as coping effectively with, the experience of body shame.Level of evidenceV: cross-sectional descriptive study.
Highlights
The binging and purging behaviors that characterize bulimia nervosa are highly prevalent on college campuses [1]
In a sample of college women, it was predicted that body shame would mediate the relationship between body size and bulimic symptomatology
The significant moderated-mediation model reported in this study is, firstly, consistent with the contemporary sociocultural theory of women’s body image disturbance, whereby a woman’s negative thoughts and feelings about her body arise because she perceives that her body is discrepant from the cultural esthetic body standard [14]
Summary
The binging and purging behaviors that characterize bulimia nervosa are highly prevalent on college campuses [1]. Shame is thought to arise as a result of a failure to live up to a personally significant internalized standard and is characterized by self-criticism, feelings of worthlessness and inferiority [9,10,11,12]. Such being the case, shame about the size of one’s body could be said to be an emotion that is experienced by a significant number of women in contemporary Western culture [6]. Research suggests that because of pressure from the media, peers and family, many women in affluent Western cultures have internalized a cultural body standard that is characterized by an extreme level
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
