Psychological Explanations of Anorexia Nervosa

Question 1

Clinical Characteristics

Answer 1

Anxiety - excessive fear of being fat

Weight - Abnormal weight loss when below 85% of indi’s normal weight

Body-image distortion - Don’t see the thinness

Amenorrhoea - Absence of periods for 3 months

Question 2

Cultural ideals

Answer 2

Many teenagers are dissatisfied with their weight + distorted view of their body image

16% of 15-18 yrs were currently on a diet

Question 3

Media influences

Answer 3

Portrayal of thin models on TV + mags = contributory factor

Jones + Buckingham: Indis with low-self esteem are more likely to compare themselves to idealised images in media

Question 4

Ethnicity

Answer 4

AN in non-western cultures + black populations = much lower than white western pop

META: African-Americans = less body dissatisfaction than Caucasian + Hispanic females

Non-western cultures = more +ve attitudes toward large body sizes = associated with attractiveness + fertility

Question 5

Peer Influences

Answer 5

Adolescents are susceptible to peer influence

US study: Dieting among friends was sig related to unhealthy weight control e.g. diet pills + purging

Question 6

Jones + Crawford

Answer 6

Overweight girls + underweight boys = more likely to be teased by peers

Suggesting through teasing, peers serve to enforce gender-based ideals

Question 7

Hilde Bruch

Answer 7

Origins of AN are in early childhood

Effective parents respond to child’s needs
Ineffective parents = fail to respond to child’s internal needs

Children of ineffective P’s = grow up confused about internal needs = overly reliant on their parents. In Adolescence they are unable to establish autonomy = can take control of body shape + size

Question 8

Perfectionism

Answer 8

Found in AN

Strober et al: Perfectionism in 73% of girls + 50% of boys with AN

Question 9

Personality traits

Answer 9

Perfectionism

Impulsiveness

Question 10

Implulsiveness

Answer 10

Research: compared to normal control group, p’s with AN responded rapidly to performance task, indicating behavioural impulsiveness, despite low self-reported impulsiveness

Question 11

Ethical issues in AN research

Answer 11

Researchers use internet communities as a rich source of qualitative data relating to AN

Internet research on AN raises ethical questions: privacy, informed consent + protection of confidentiality

Question 12

Real-World Application

Answer 12

Fashion industry, France signed a charter of good will

Charter:a pledge by fashion houses, advertising agencies + magazine editors to use a diversity of body types + not stereotype the ‘thin ideal’

Question 13

Becker et al

Answer 13

Eating attitudes + behaviours were studied among adolescent Fijian girls following introduction of TV on 1995

Girls stated desire to lose weight to become more like western TV characters

Other research = instructional intervention prior to media exposure to idealised female images prevents adverse effects

Question 14

Limitation of Cultural Ideals research

Answer 14

Hoek et al

Examined records of people admitted to hospital from 1987-1989 in non-westernised Caribbean island, where it’s acceptable to be overweight

Found 6 cases = within the range of rates of AN reported in western countries

Question 15

Limitation of Ethnicity research

Answer 15

Regan et al

Found no sig. differences in prevalence of disordered eating between African American + white Caucasian participants

White pop only had higher AN rate than black pops in older adolescents

Question 16

Bruch’s psychodynamic explanation support

Answer 16

Supported by observations that p’s of adolescents with AN have tendency to define c’s physical needs rather than allowing children to define their own

P’s claim to anticipate c’s needs rather than letting them feel hungry

Also research supports B’s claim that AN rely on opinions of others + worry about they are viewed + feel lack of control

Question 17

Limitation of peer influences research

Answer 17

Study found no correlation among friends on measures of disordered eating in an adolescent sample

Question 18

Support for peer influences research

Answer 18

Research found overweight girls + underweight boys were more likely to be teased, gender differences didn’t emerge till adolescence

Lunde et al: found +ve correlation betweenBMI + teasing for both Bs + Gs

Question 19

Perfectionism + duration

Answer 19

Indis with short illness duration = lower levels of perfectionism

Indis with high perfectionism = risk of long illness duration

Question 20

Methodological issues

Answer 20

Hard to separate out lasting personality traits from short-lived states that may be caused by starvation

There is frequent reliance on clinically diagnosed samples which represents a biased view of the relationship between personality + disordered eating