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Journal ArticleDOI

The development and validation of the body shape questionnaire

TL;DR: The BSQ provides a means of investigating the role of concerns about body shape in the development, maintenance, and treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Abstract: Concerns about body shape are common among young women in Western cultures, and, in an extreme form, they constitute a central feature of the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. To date there has been no satisfactory measure of such concerns. A self-report instrument, the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) has therefore been developed. The items that constitute this measure were derived by conducting semistructured interviews with various groups of women including patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The BSQ has been administered to three samples of young women in the community as well as to a group of patients with bulimia nervosa. The concurrent and discriminant validity of the measure have been shown to be good. The BSQ provides a means of investigating the role of concerns about body shape in the development, maintenance, and treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Citations
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Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The Scope of Body Image Disturbance - the Big Picture An Overview of Assessment and Treatment Strategies Sociocultural Theory - the Media and Society Social Comparison Processes Appearance-Related Feedback Interpersonal Factors Peers, Parents and Perfect Strangers Feminist Perspectives Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment Behavioural Aspects of Disturbances - Conditioning, Context and Avoidance Cognitive Processing Models Future Directions - Integrative Theories, Multidimensional Assessment and Multicomponent Interventions
Abstract: The Scope of Body Image Disturbance - the Big Picture An Overview of Assessment and Treatment Strategies Sociocultural Theory - the Media and Society Social Comparison Processes Appearance-Related Feedback Interpersonal Factors Peers, Parents and Perfect Strangers Feminist Perspectives Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment Behavioural Aspects of Disturbance - Conditioning, Context and Avoidance Cognitive Processing Models Future Directions - Integrative Theories, Multidimensional Assessment and Multicomponent Interventions

2,245 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings support the notion that exposure to media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to body image concerns for women.
Abstract: Research suggests that exposure to mass media depicting the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in women. This meta-analysis examined experimental and correlational studies testing the links between media exposure to women's body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and eating behaviors and beliefs with a sample of 77 studies that yielded 141 effect sizes. The mean effect sizes were small to moderate (ds = -.28, -.39, and -.30, respectively). Effects for some outcome variables were moderated by publication year and study design. The findings support the notion that exposure to media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to body image concerns for women.

1,666 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Body Appreciation Scale should prove useful for researchers and clinicians interested in positive body image assessment and predicted unique variance in psychological well-being above and beyond extant measures of body image.

767 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The EDE provides clinicians and research workers with a detailed and comprehensive profile of the psychopathological features of patients with eating disorders.
Abstract: The EDE is a semistructured interview which has been developed as a measure of the specific psychopathology of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. To establish its discriminant validity it was administered to 100 patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa and to 42 controls. The two groups differed significantly on all items. Five subscales were derived on rational grounds and evaluated on the two populations. The alpha coefficients for each subscale indicated a satisfactory degree of internal consistency. The EDE provides clinicians and research workers with a detailed and comprehensive profile of the psychopathological features of patients with eating disorders.

625 citations


Cites background from "The development and validation of t..."

  • ...This is particularly true of the character istic overvalued ideas concerning shape and weight (Cooper & Fairburn, 1987), which are central to diagnosis (Fairburn & Garner, 1986)....

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  • ...It has been developed and revised over the past five years with the aim of maximising its reliability (Cooper & Fairburn, 1987)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings directly challenge the belief that there are large differences in dissatisfaction between White and all non-White women and suggest that body dissatisfaction may not be the golden girl problem promoted in the literature.
Abstract: The prevailing view in popular culture and the psychological literature is that White women have greater body dissatisfaction than women of color. In this meta-analysis, 6 main effect sizes were obtained for differences among Asian American, Black, Hispanic, and White women with a sample of 98 studies, yielding 222 effect sizes. The average d for the White-Black comparison was 0.29, indicating that White women are more dissatisfied, but the difference is small. All other comparisons were smaller, and many were close to zero. The findings directly challenge the belief that there are large differences in dissatisfaction between White and all non-White women and suggest that body dissatisfaction may not be the golden girl problem promoted in the literature. Implications for theory and treatment are discussed.

611 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) as discussed by the authors is a self-report, multiscale measure designed for the assessment of psychological and behavioral traits common in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia.
Abstract: The development and validation of a new measure, the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) is described. The EDI is a 64 item, self-report, multiscale measure designed for the assessment of psychological and behavioral traits common in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia. The EDI consists of eight sub-scales measuring: 1) Drive for Thinness, 2) Bulimia, 3) Body Dissatisfaction, 4) Ineffectiveness, 5) Perfectionism, 6) Interpersonal Distrust, 7) Interoceptive Awareness and 8) Maturity Fears. Reliability (internal consistency) is established for all subscales and several indices of validity are presented. First, AN patients (N = 113) are differentiated from female comparison (FC) subjects (N = 577) using a cross-validation procedure. Secondly, patient self-report subscale scores agree with clinician ratings of subscale traits. Thirdly, clinically recovered AN patients score similarly to FCs on all subscales. Finally, convergent and discriminate validity are established for subscales. The EDI was also administered to groups of normal weight bulimic women, obese, and normal weight but formerly obese women, as well as a male comparison group. Group differences are reported and the potential utility of the EDI is discussed.

4,399 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The EAT was validated using 2 groups of female anorexia nervosa patients and female control subjects and total EAT score was significantly correlated with criterion group membership, suggesting a high level of concurrent validity.
Abstract: Data on the development of a 40-item measure of the symptoms in anorexia nervosa are reported. The scale (EAT) is presented in a 6-point, forced choice, self-report format which is easily administered and scored. The EAT was validated using 2 groups of female anorexia nervosa patients (N = 32 and 33) and female control subjects (N = 34 and 59). Total EAT score was significantly correlated with criterion group membership (r = 0.87, P less than 0.001), suggesting a high level of concurrent validity. There was very little overlap in the frequency distributions of the 2 groups and only 7% of the normal controls scored as high as the lowest anorexic patient. Female obese and male subjects also scored significantly lower on the EAT than anorexics. Recovered anorexic patients scored in the normal range on the test, suggesting that the EAT is sensitive to clinical remission.

3,351 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main aims of treatment are to interrupt the vicious circle of overeating and self-induced vomiting (or purging), and to persuade the patients to accept a higher weight.
Abstract: Thirty patients were selected for a prospective study according to two criteria: (i) an irresistible urge to overeat (bulimia nervosa), followed by self-induced vomiting or purging; (ii) a morbid fear of becoming fat. The majority of the patients had a previous history of true or cryptic anorexia nervosa. Self-induced vomiting and purging are secondary devices used by the patients to counteract the effects of overeating and prevent a gain in weight. These devices are dangerous for they are habit-forming and lead to potassium loss and other physical complications. In common with true anorexia nervosa, the patients were determined to keep their weight below a self-imposed threshold. Its level was set below the patient‘s healthy weight, defined as the weight reached before the onset of the eating disorder. In contrast with true anorexia nervosa, the patients tended to be heavier, more active sexually, and more likely to menstruate regularly and remain fertile. Depressive symptoms were often severe and distressing and led to a high risk of suicide.A theoretical model is described to emphasize the interdependence of the various symptoms and the role of self-perpetuating mechanisms in the maintenance of the disorder. The main aims of treatment are (i) to interrupt the vicious circle of overeating and self-induced vomiting (or purging), (ii) to persuade the patients to accept a higher weight. Prognosis appears less favourable than in uncomplicated anorexia nervosa.

1,602 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This interview, the Eating Disorder Examination, is designed to assess the full range of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders, including these patients' extreme concerns about their shape and weight.
Abstract: The specific psychopathology of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is complex in form. Although for many purposes self-report questionnaires are a satisfactory measure of this psychopathology, for detailed psychopathological studies and for investigations into the effects of treatment, more sensitive and flexible assessment measures are required. For this reason a semi-structured interview was developed. This interview, the Eating Disorder Examination, is designed to assess the full range of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders, including these patients' extreme concerns about their shape and weight.

1,214 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present paper is concerned with one variety of attitude, namely, body-cathexis, which is believed to be integrally related to the self-concept, although identifiable as a separate aspect thereof.
Abstract: A substantial amount of current research in personality is devoted to the study of the individual's personal world. One object which is ever-present in this personal world is the body. It is the thesis of the present writers that the individual's attitudes towards his body are of crucial importance to any comprehensive theory of personality; yet little attention has been given to this subject by psychologists . The present paper is concerned with one variety of attitude, namely, body-cathexis. By bodycathexis is meant the degree of feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfacti on with the various parts or processes of the body. If the variable body-cathexis is to be deemed important for personality theory, it is nqcessary to demonstrate that it is related to other personality variables which are recognized as significant. For reasons which need not be discussed here, body-cathexis is believed to be integrally related to the self-concept, although identifiable as a separate aspect thereof. From this notion of relatedness of body and self, the following more specific hypotheses were formulated and tested: 1. Feelings about the body are commensurate with feelings about the self, when both are appraised by similar scales. 2. Negative feelings about the body are associated with anxiety, in the form of undue autistic concern with pain, disease, or bodily injury.

962 citations