1. Wendy Wolfe & Kaitlyn Patterson
Testing Mediation in the Relationship between Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating
Wendy Wolfe & Kaitlyn Patterson
Results
Introduction
Method
Participants
Participants were 281 undergraduate female students, who received course credit for their participation (60% Caucasian, M age= 22). Materials and Procedure
Participants completed the following measures in Survey Monkey after providing informed consent:
Measures of Body Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction:
Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ)
Body Esteem Scale (B-ES, Weight Concern Subscale)
Body Appreciation Scale (BAS)
Measures of Eating Behaviors:
Binge Eating Scale (BES)
Eating Attitudes Test (EAT, a measure of attitudes and behaviors associated with anorexia and bulimia)
Measure of Self-Focus:
Self-Focused Attention Scale (SFAS)
Measure of Depression:
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD)
Other Measures*:
Locus of Control Scale (LCS)
Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6)
Perfectionism Inventory (PI)
Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS)
Background Information Measures:
Mental Health History Survey
Demographic Survey
* Some measures were included as part of a separate investigation.
Whereas the role of body dissatisfaction as a risk factor in the development of eating disorder behaviors (e.g., restrictive eating, use of compensatory methods such as induced vomiting and laxatives) has been well established, a recent longitudinal investigation illustrated that an additional role is played by depressive symptoms. Stice, Marti, and Durant (2011) followed a group of almost 500 middle school-aged females prospectively for eight years. They found that adolescent girls with higher levels of body dissatisfaction were four times more likely to develop eating disorders than those with lower levels of body dissatisfaction, and that within the high body dissatisfaction group, those with higher depressive symptoms were almost three times more likely to develop eating disorders than those with high body dissatisfaction and low levels of depression. We believe that a variable that may further account for the pathway from body dissatisfaction to depression and disordered eating behaviors is dispositional self-focus. Dispositional self-focus (especially rumination tendency) has been found to be associated with depressed mood (Watkins & Teasdale, 2004) and has been proposed as a risk factor for depression (Ingram, 1990). Degree of self-focus has also been found to differentiate between dieters and non-dieters (Heatherton, 1993). Indeed, restrained eating among those dissatisfied with their body size may result from a heightened degree of self-focus and concern about how one appears to others (Heatherton, 1993). It also has been proposed that other disordered eating behaviors, such as binge eating, may be used during times of stress in order to escape from an aversive state of heightened self-focus (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1991). In our study, we examine body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, dispositional self-focus, and disordered eating behaviors in college females using an online survey.
Test of Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2:
Step 1: R2 = .46, F(3, 280) = 77.41, p < .001 (EAT Total)
R2 = .50, F(3, 280) = 90.86, p < .001 (BES Total)
R2 = .29, F(3, 280) = 38.10, p < .001 (CESD Total)
Body dissatisfaction significantly predicted disordered eating and depressive symptoms.
Step 2: R2 = .13, F(1, 280) = 40.98, p < .001 (SFAS Total)
Body dissatisfaction significantly predicted self-focused attention.
Step 3: R2 = .18, F(1, 280) = 59.83, p < .001 (EAT Total)
R2 = .08, F(1, 280) = 24.53, p < .001 (BES Total)
R2 = .18, F(1, 280) = 61.57, p < .001 (CESD Total)
Self-focused attention significantly predicted disordered eating and depressive symptoms.
Step 4: Model 1 tested effect of body dissatisfaction on the dependent
variable. Model 2 tested additional effect of SFAS on the dependent variable (Model 2 results reported below)
ΔR2 = .037, ΔF(1, 278) = 20.11, p < .001, β(BSQ = .60, p <
.001), β(SFAS = .21, p < .001) (EAT Total)
ΔR2 = .002, F(1, 278) = 1.14, p = n.s., β(BSQ = .65, p <
.001), β(SFAS = .05, p = n.s.) (BES Total)
ΔR2 = .073, ΔF(1, 278) = 29.19, p < .001, β(BSQ = .38, p <
.001), β(SFAS = .29, p < .001) (CESD Total)
Self-focused attention partially mediated the effect of body dissatisfaction on eating disorder attitudes and behaviors (EAT) & depression (CESD).
Test of Hypothesis 3:
A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine if self-focused attention and depressive symptoms both predicted scores on the EAT, after accounting for the influence of body dissatisfaction.
ΔR2 = .068, ΔF(1, 277) = 19.52, p < .001, β(BSQ = .52, p < .001), β(SFAS = .15, p < .01), β(CESD = .21, p < .001). Both self-focused attention and depressive symptoms partially mediated the effect of body dissatisfaction on restrictive eating (EAT).
Analyses
Following guidelines for testing mediation (Baron & Kelly, 1986), linear regression analyses were conducted to (1) test the effect of the predictor variable on the dependent variable, (2) test the effect of the predictor variable on the mediator, (3) test the effect of the mediator on the dependent variable, and (4) test the effect of the mediator on the dependent variable after controlling for the effect of the predictor variable on the dependent variable (hierarchical multiple regression). In Step 1, all measures of body dissatisfaction/satisfaction were used, however most variance was predicted by BSQ. Due to concerns about multicollinearity, only the BSQ was retained for the remaining steps.
Hypotheses
We predict that self-focused attention will mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
We predict that self-focused attention will mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and depression.
We predict self-focused attention and depressive symptoms will mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
Discussion
A tendency towards self-focus mediates the influence of body dissatisfaction on disordered eating and depression. Results of hierarchical multiple regression suggest a pathway whereby body dissatisfaction is mediated by both self-focus and depressive symptoms in predicting disordered eating. The relationship among these variables will be explored further through structural equation modeling.
For a reference list and further information, contact: Wendy Wolfe, Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Nashville, TN (March, 2014)