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Depressive Thought Content Among Female College Students With Bulimia
Author(s) -
BROUWERS MARIETTE
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1988.tb00904.x
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , attractiveness , depression (economics) , cognition , ideation , psychiatry , cognitive science , psychoanalysis , economics , macroeconomics
The author used a rationalistic cognitive approach to identify typical thought content among female college students with bulimia. The study compared overall depression scores on the Beck Depression Inventoy between women with bulimia and women in a control group and examined differences in specific depression items. Results indicated that women with bulimia are more depressed than are controls and have distorted thoughts regarding body image, self‐blame, somatic preoccupation, guilt, and suicidal ideation. By emphasizing competition, perfection, motivation, and attractiveness, the college environment may exacerbate distorted thinking, thus indirectly contributing to the development and maintenance of bulimia. A treatment approach focusing on cognition is proposed.