Psychologists Suzanne E. Mazzeo, Ph.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University and Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studied 820 undergraduate female college students to see whether certain risk factors led to disordered eating. The researchers found that family conflict, family cohesion, childhood physical and emotional abuse and neglect did indirectly influence whether a college student would develop problem eating behaviors. However, they found that depression and alexithymia -- difficulty in identifying and describing one's own feelings -- more directly influences whether women from this type of background develop eating problems. The findings appear in the January issue of the Journal of Counseling Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
"Taken together, results regarding the associations among alexithymia, depression and disordered eating suggest that it is not the mere presence or absence of childhood emotional and physical abuse and neglect that is associated with disordered eating," say the authors. "Rather, the development of alexithymia and depressive symptoms in response to these childhood experiences seems to be most strongly associated with disordered eating severity."
The results suggest that individuals who engage in disordered eating behaviors, as well as individuals at risk for developing these behaviors, may benefit from interventions that address adaptive ways to cope with depression, according to the researchers.
More research is needed, say the authors, to clarify causal risk factors that could be targeted in prevention programs. But the findings of this study can help college counselors and psychologists with what to look for when helping students with eating disorders. They should not only evaluate the presence or absence of conflict and cohesiveness in the student's family environment, but also determine whether they are depressed and having trouble identifying and talking about what is bothering them now, according to the study.
Article: “Association Between Childhood Physical and Emotional Abuse and Disordered Eating Behaviors in Female Undergraduates: An Investigation of the Mediating Role of Alexithymia and Depression," Suzanne E. Mazzeo, Virginia Commonwealth University and Dorothy L. Espelage, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 1.
Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at http://www.apa.org/journals/cou/press_releases/january_2002/cou49186.html.
Lead author Suzanne E. Mazzzeo, Ph.D., can be reached at (804) 827-1708 or by e-mail at semazzeo@vcu.edu.
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists. APA’s membership includes more than 155,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Journal
Journal of Counseling Psychology