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The heterogeneity of bulimic symptomatology: Cognitive and behavioral dimensions
Author(s) -
Thompson Deborah A.,
Berg Kathleen M.,
Shatford Lisa A.
Publication year - 1987
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(198703)6:2<215::aid-eat2260060206>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , perfectionism (psychology) , dysphoria , worry , clinical psychology , operationalization , regret , coping (psychology) , exaggeration , anxiety , developmental psychology , psychiatry , philosophy , epistemology , machine learning , computer science
The present study assessed use of food as a coping mechanism and cognitive distortions regarding food and weight in relation to extent of bulimic symptomatology. Subjects were 19 women who fulfilled an operationalized defination of the DSM‐III diagnostic criteria for bulimia (bulimics), 35 women who fulfilled an operationalized definition of an absence of bulimic symptomology (symptom‐free), and 41 women who fulfilled some but not all bulimic criteria (bulimic‐like). The symptom‐free, bulimic‐like, and bulimic groups each differed from one another in a linear fashion from low to high on measures of use of food as a coping mechanism, five of eight types of cognitive distortions regarding food and weight (dichotomous thinking, worry, exaggeration, superstitious thinking, and personalization), drive for thinness, and lack of interoceptive awareness. The bulimic and bulimic‐like groups evidenced greater perfectionism, defeatism, regret, and body dissatisfaction than the symptom‐free group. Variation in the extent of use of food and cognitive distortions accounted for 70% of explained variance in the severity of DSM‐III bulimic symptomatology. These results suggest that behavioral, affective, and cognitive indices of bulimia fall along parallel continua of symptomatic severity. The results also support the relevance of preventative and therapeutic programs with multidimensional foci.