Correlates of Eating Problems in University Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between sociocultural influences (family, peers, and media), body image dissatisfaction (BE-Appearance, BE-Weight, BE-Attribution) and eating problems in university students. It was hypothesized that (a) sociocultural influences, body image dissatisfaction would be positively correlate and predict eating problems, (b) there would be gender differences in sociocultural influences, body image dissatisfaction and eating problems. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted with 181 participants (men = 91; women = 89) selected from a private university (Mage = 21.87 years, SD = 1.88) through convenient sampling. An online self-administered survey was undertaken by using Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire (Schaefer et al., 2015), Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson et al., 2001) and Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) (Garner et al., 1982). Results indicated that sociocultural influences (family, peers, and media) and body image dissatisfaction (BE-Appearance, BE-Weight) were positively correlated as well as predicted with eating problems in university students. Media, peer influence and BE-Attribution positively predicted eating problems, while BE-Appearance negatively predicted eating problems. Women showed significantly more eating problems than men. The study has implications for prevention and intervention with reference to media literacy programs, counseling and psych education.