The relationships among religious affiliation, religious angst, and disordered eating.
Although religion is thought to be a positive aspect of life, sometimes that is not always the case. One potentially negative effect of religion is the way people learn to perceive their bodies. Although many studies have examined factors that influence disordered eating (e.g., gender, self-esteem), few studies have examined the relationships among disordered eating and religious affiliation and religious angst. In the present study of 330 undergraduates, we found that Catholics and Christians displayed significantly more disordered eating than did other students. In addition, individuals scoring high on religious angst also reported more disordered eating behaviors than did other students. Implications for counseling will be discussed.
Department of Psychology, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725-1715, USA.
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Gates
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Pritchard
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001828:Body Image; D002410:Catholicism / Q000523:psychology; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology*; D034682:Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints / Q000523:psychology; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015205:Northwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult