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Attitudes toward weight, body image, eating, menstruation, pregnancy, and sexuality in 81 cases of anorexia compared with 288 normal control school girls
Author(s) -
BuvatHerbaut M.,
Hebbinckuys P.,
Lemaire A.,
Buvat J.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/1098-108x(198322)2:4<45::aid-eat2260020409>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , menstruation , psychology , human sexuality , eating disorders , anorexia , pregnancy , disgust , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , gender studies , sociology , biology , genetics , anger
Eighty‐one girls suffering from anorexia nervosa and 288 control school girls filled in a questionnaire including 48 questions to assess their weight and their height, how they perceived their body size and experienced their body, their eating behavior, and some attitudes toward menstruation, pregnancy, and sexuality. The answers of these two groups were compared using the chi‐square test. Specific problems of weight, body size, and eating disorders were frequent in the control group, but they were significantly more frequent in the anorexia nervosa group. The difference was particularly significant for the following points: difficulties with perceiving their body size, overestimation of body size, fear of gaining weight, fear of having a normal weight, and guilt after food intake. The attitude toward menstruation and the desire to have children were the same in both groups. The proportion of girls in whom pregnancy and sexuality induced fear or disgust was significantly higher in the anorexia nervosa group, although these attitudes only concern a minority of the patients. This study confirms that the tendency to overestimate body size, the fear of gaining weight, and the conflict about eating are important mechanisms in anorexia nervosa. Moreover, this study shows that anorexia nervosa does not signify the rejection of a sexually attractive and menstruating female body in every case.