EATING BEHAVIOUR- anorexia nervosa (psychological) Flashcards
what can an eating disorder be described as?
dysfunctional relationship with food
what do characterisitcs of eating behaviour include?
faulty thinking and emotional response to food
what do studies suggest?
up to 30% of females aged btw 15-30 affected by eating disorders and no of males is rising
what is the translation of anorexia?
loss of appetite
what is main symptoms if anorexia (6)
- distorted body image where sufferers percieve themself overweight
- under eating due to anxiety about weight -severly underweight atleast 15% below normal weight
- obsession with excercise to lose
- amenorrhea problems leading to fertility probs
- constipation and dehydration leadying to dry flaky skin and eventual organ failure
- anorexia fatal in approx 5% of sufferers
what happens if bmi 15?
current patterns-its always been an issue - secondary sexual characteristics no longer produced and body returns to pre public child like- a sexuality
e.g of loss of secondary sexual characteristics?
narrowing of hips,cessation of periods, breats shrink, testicular atrophy (males) and can be permanent
what are the psychological problems for an?
- cultural views of attraction
- social learning theory
- ethnic groups
- peer influences
- bruchs psychodynamic explanation
how does cultural views of attraction affect ?
Within western society beauty is equated to being slim
and this western ideal of attraction is believed
to contribute heavily towards AN.
how does the media maintain this?
through the influence of television, magazines, fashion
and celebrity lifestyle all of which consistently
reinforce this cultural ideal within the
population
what does the constant portrayal of thin models lead to?
portrayal of slim models leads people to question their own
body types causing them to strive to be
thin
what is support supporting portrayal of thin models?
Gregory et al
what did gregory et al find?
16% of 15-18 year old girls within the UK reported to
be dieting
what is the possible reason for uk girls dieting?
could be girls internalize culturally defined standards
of female beauty which leads to unhappiness
over their own body type not matching this ideal and an obsession with dieting and food leads to AN
what is other research on this?
women are more at risk than men and other possible psychological
what are the factors that contribute towards this?
factors that contribute could revolve around low self-esteem, OCD, perfectionist tendencies or those with high social anxiety
what type of factors are these?
personality factors may also explain AN through such traits.
how can slt be used?
explain how culture and role-models can influence the onset of AN
what might teenagers observe?
observe and pay attention to celebrityrole models who are extremely thin, retain this information and then reproduce
this behavior through excessive dieting ifthey are motivated to do so
what may observing famous models lead to?
them to think being thin is what is required to achieve success or even become accepted
how to ethnic groups contribute?
cultural groups with different values that place less
emphasis on the need for women to be
slim have lower rates of AN.
what about non western cultures?
nonwestern cultures and black populations AN is seen to occur much less compared to white western cultures (e.g. Fiji and the Caribbean where there are more positive
images of larger bodies
how does peer pressure play a part?
Adolescents may be more susceptible to peer influences
such as disordered eating patterns within their group
study supporting peer pressure?
Eisenberg et al
what did Eisenberg et al find?
unhealthy dieting such as the use of dieting pills or purging
23(vomiting after eating, taking laxatives) was
apparent within peer groups suggesting this too could contribute towards the development of AN.
what did bruchs psychological exp say?
AN has its origin within early childhood and is caused by how parents respond to their child’s needs
what did effective parents find?
would recognise their needs and feed them when hungry or comfort them when required
how would ineffective parents respond?
incorrectly to this, comforting them when they needed feeding or feeding them when they required comforting or other needs.
due to parents response how would children grow up?
confused about their own internal needs causing
them to become overly reliant on their parents which makes it difficult for them to become autonomous when they become adolescents as they do not feel in control over their own bodies
what is eval support?
support role of culture media influences reductionist nature v nurture gender bias
study for support role of culture?
Lai et al
what did lai et al find?
rate of anorexia began to increase for Chinese residents of Hong Kong as the culture became more westernised suggesting culture does influence AN
what is it based on?
correllational findings and we cannot infer cause and effect for certain between western culture influencing AN
what could this mean for an (lai et al)?
confounding unknown variables such as personality factors
or individual differences that are contributing. For example low self-esteem
study for media influences?
Becker et al
what was found in Becker et al?
Fijan adolescent girls and their eating attitudes and behaviours were examined prior to the introduction of television.
what were attittudes seen to shift?
with a greater desire from them to lose weight and become more like western television characters highlighting how the media may contribute to the onset of AN indirectly
however of becker et al?
personality factors could be a confounding variable affecting the DV
what does becker et al also lack?
lack internal validity as we cannot say for certain that a
change in attitude towards image can directly
lead to the development of AN -could be other factors
what do findings also lack?
external validity when we try to generalise the findings as an explanation for how AN may develop.
why reductionist?
as a more complex process beyond simply a single explanations appears to be occurring. e.g media /personality factors
why nature v nurture argument?
suggesting it is environmental factors that cause AN. However biological explanations put forth a case for 25
neural or genetic causes which suggest nature
may be the cause.
what could explain nature v nurture better?
diathesis stress model may actually better explain
why diathesis stress model ?
explain how both play a role with some individuals having
the genetic pre-disposition for the disorder provided sufficient environmental triggers cause the onset of AN. Therefore this may explain how both approaches (nature
and nurture) interact.
why gender bias?
gender bias as the same psychological factors that affect women may not necessarily explain the onset of AN for men due to them perceiving environmental factors
differently
