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Guilt and obsessive‐compulsive traits in female dieters
Author(s) -
Chamove A. S.,
Graham P. A. M.,
Wallis C. M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-277x.1991.tb00085.x
Subject(s) - overweight , anxiety , medicine , perception , clinical psychology , food intake , psychology , psychiatry , obesity , neuroscience
To extend previous findings that patients with eating disorders show high levels of obsessive‐compulsive traits and guilt, we compared 84 dieters with 81 non‐dieters. Dieters reported more obsessive‐compulsive characteristics (both food‐ and non‐food‐related), more indecisiveness, and tended to have a lower desire for control. Under‐weight dieters were more extreme in these traits than over‐weight dieters. Guilt was not related to perceptions of overweight, rather guilt (both food‐ and non‐food) was significantly higher in those who diet more frequently. Perhaps if food cannot be used as an anxiolytic, any anxiety may be reduced by repetitive behaviour or reinterpreted as guilt.