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Treatment or punishment?
Author(s) -
Lovell Deborah M.,
Hill Andrew B.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.2400020404
Subject(s) - eating disorders , psychology , ambivalence , punishment (psychology) , psychiatry , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology
Three groups, a group of women currently suffering from an eating disorder (ED), one consisting of women who had recovered from an eating disorder (XED) and the third consisting of women who had never suffered an eating disorder (NED), were compared by means of interview. Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they gave themselves treats and punishments. Results showed that within the NED group, dieters and non‐dieters were similar in that both tended to claim that they gave themselves treats but not punishments. Women in the ED group, irrespective of type of eating disorder suffered, tended to report treating themselves less and punishing themselves more than was the case for those who had never suffered an eating disorder. The XED group also appeared more self‐punishing than the NED group, but were ambivalent in the extent to which they considered they gave themselves treats. On the basis of these results suggestions are made about the direction treatment for eating disorders might usefully take.