Perfectionism, Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating among Youth

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between Perfectionism, Body Dissatisfaction (Appearance evaluation, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, Self-classified weight, Body areas satisfaction) and Disordered Eating and to explore whether perfectionism and body dissatisfaction make youth vulnerable to disordered eating. The purpose is to see whether body dissatisfaction is playing the role of mediator between perfectionism and disordered eating. To fulfill the aim, it was hypothesized that, i-Perfectionism and Body dissatisfaction (Appearance evaluation, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, Self-classified weight, Body areas satisfaction) would have significant relationship with disordered eating among youth. ii-Body dissatisfaction (Appearance evaluation, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, Self-classified weight, Body areas satisfaction) would significantly mediate the relationship between perfectionism and disordered eating. iii- There would be significant gender difference in perfectionism, body dissatisfaction (Appearance evaluation, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, Self-classified weight, Body areas satisfaction) and disordered eating among youth. The scales used to measure Perfectionism, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating was Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) (Stoeber,1988), Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSSRQ-AS) (Cash,1990), and Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) (Garner, et al., 1979) respectively. Pearson product was used for correlation between variables, Macro Process analysis was used for mediation Analysis, T-test was carried out for gender analysis. The result indicates that Perfectionism, Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, and Self-classified weight have significantly positive relationship with Disordered Eating and Body areas satisfaction have significantly negative relationship with Disordered Eating. Furthermore, it showed that Appearance orientation, Overweight preoccupation, and Self-classified weight partially mediated the relationship between Perfectionism and Disordered Eating. After identifying perfectionism and body dissatisfaction as contributing factor to develop disordered eating among youth, this can be used to develop improved strategies to reduce perfectionism and body dissatisfaction. It will help the mental health professionals in designing the effective and preventive strategies to help individuals with disordered eating. This result may increase awareness among youth about one of the potential risks associated with disordered eating.