title: Perfectionism, perceived weight status, and bulimic symptoms: two studies testing a diathesis-stress model.
abstract: Among a total of 890 women from 2 separate nonclinical samples (1 collected in 1982 on college undergraduates, n = 435, and 1 collected in 1992 on women who were in college in 1982, n = 455), the authors tested a diathesis-stress model of the interrelations of perfectionism, perceived weight status, and bulimic symptoms. The authors predicted and found that perfectionism served as a risk factor for bulimic symptoms for women who perceived themselves as overweight but did not serve as a risk factor for those who did not perceive themselves as overweight. Perceived weight activated perfectionism as a predictor of bulimic symptoms; actual weight did not serve the same role. These findings are discussed in the context of recent clinical and social psychological theory regarding development of bulimic symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-0425, USA. thomas.joiner@utmb.edu
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Joiner
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Heatherton
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rudd
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001290:Attitude; D001828:Body Image; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology*; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D012044:Regression Analysis