The latent structure of dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness: A series of taxometric analyses.

Abstract

Although the latent structure of various eating disorders has been explored in previous studies, no published studies have examined the latent structure of theoretically relevant variables that have been shown to cut across eating disorder diagnoses. The current study examined 3 such variables (dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness) among undergraduate women using the taxometric method. The 5 items from the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire's Dietary Restraint subscale were used as dietary restraint indicators, whereas items from the Eating Disorders Inventory Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness subscales were used as indicators of body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness, respectively. As hypothesized, MAXCOV (maximum covariance) and MAMBAC (mean above minus below a cut) analyses suggested that all 3 variables are dimensional; therefore, individuals with high levels of reported dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness appear to differ in degree, but not in kind, from those with lower levels. Implications for prevention, assessment, classification, and treatment are discussed.