Body image distortion in anorexia and bulimia nervosa: the role of perceived and actual control

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Glenn Waller, S Hodgson

Abstract

It has been suggested that a desire for control is a central factor in eating disorders. There is, however, little evidence to support this clinical hypothesis. This experimental study examines the effects of actual and perceived control on a symptom of anorexia and bulimia nervosa-body image distortion. Using a learned helplessness paradigm, it was shown that eating-disordered and comparison women respond differently to manipulations of control. Anorexic and bulimic women appear to have a cognitive style of "mistaken pessimism," overestimating body size more when an easy task is perceived as difficult. In contrast, the comparison women are "mistaken optimists" overestimating less when they see a difficult task as being easy. The clinical implications are discussed and further research is proposed to extend these preliminary findings.

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Citations

Dec 1, 1996·The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease·S J Tomasino
Dec 26, 2001·Annual Review of Psychology·Janet Polivy, C Peter Herman
Mar 23, 2000·Eating and Weight Disorders : EWD·G Maggia, B Bianchi
Apr 12, 2002·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·Marisol PerezThomas E Joiner

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