Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Sara Haden
Committee Chair and Members
Sara Haden, Chair
Joan Duncan
Erica Hutchison
Keywords
Body dissatisfaction, Bulimic symptoms, Dietary restrain, Eating disorders, Food insecurity, Shame
Abstract
The present study assessed a proposed model developed to explain the relationship between food insecurity and bulimic symptoms (Hazzard et al., 2020). Within this model, body dissatisfaction and food insecurity severity are parallel independent variables. Dietary restraint and shame mediate the relationships between both independent variables and bulimic symptoms (Hazzard et al., 2020). The present sample included 198 adults who were experiencing food insecurity. The majority of participants identified as women (n = 170) and Latina/o (n = 178). Participants completed self-report measures for all variables. On an exploratory basis, body dissatisfaction was measured implicitly. A path analysis was used to test the proposed model. The model was found to be a good fit for the data. Food insecurity had a significant positive effect on dietary restraint and shame. Dietary restraint did not predict shame. Both dietary restraint and shame helped explain the relationship between food insecurity and bulimic symptoms. Shame had a significantly larger effect. Only shame helped explain the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms. Regarding the exploratory question, implicit and explicit body dissatisfaction were inversely correlated. Overall, the findings support the proposed dual pathway model of food insecurity and bulimic symptoms. The model highlights that while dietary restraint is an important variable, the emotional factor of shame plays an especially significant role. In terms of treatment for bulimic spectrum symptoms, these findings suggest interventions targeting feelings of shame may be a good fit for food-insecure populations.
Recommended Citation
Seligman, Olivia Rose, "Contributing factors to bulimic symptoms in a food-insecure population: An expansion of the dual pathway model of bulimic pathology" (2023). Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-. 18.
https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/brooklyn_fulltext_dis/18