A test of the social withdrawal syndrome hypothesis of bulimia nervosa

Authors

Keywords:

bulimic symptoms, trust beliefs, affective withdrawal, disclosure, social connectiveness

Abstract

Background

The study examined the social withdrawal syndrome (SWS) hypothesis of bulimia nervosa (BN). According to the hypothesis, eating disorders such as BN are associated with a coherent set of social withdrawal cognitions, affect, and behavior.

Participants and procedure

Eight-eight young female adults completed a standardized measure of bulimic symptoms and measures of social withdrawal (affective withdrawal, trust beliefs in close others, and disclosure). Participants were engaged in a laboratory based peer interaction which yielded the SWS measure of perceived lack of social connectiveness.

Results

Bulimic symptoms were associated with each measure of social withdrawal. Structural equation modeling analysis confirmed that those measures contributed to a coherent latent factor which was associated with bulimic symptoms.

Conclusions

The findings supported the social withdrawal syndrome hypothesis of BN and have implications for the detection and treatment of eating disorders.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baldwin, M. W. (1992). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461–484. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.3.461.

Bernieri, F. J., Gillis, J. S., Davis, J. M., & Grahe, J. C. (1996). Dyad report and the accuracy of its judgment across situations: a lens model analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 110–129. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.110.

Burton, A. L., Abbott, M. J., Modini, M., & Touyz, S. (2016). Psychometric evaluation of self-report measures of binge-eating symptoms and related psychopathology: a systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49, 125–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22453.

Evans, L., & Wertheim, E. H. (2002). An examination of willingness to self-disclose in women with bulimic symptoms considering the context of disclosure and negative affect levels. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 344–348. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.10020.

Galmiche, M., Déchelotte, P., Lambert, G., & Tavolacci, M. P. (2019). Prevalence of eating disorders over the 2000-2018 period: a systematic literature review. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 109, 1402–1413. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy342.

Grisset, N. I., & Norvell, N. K. (1992). Perceived social support, social skills, and quality of relationships in bulimic women. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 293–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.60.2.293.

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118.

Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G. Jr, & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry, 61, 348–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.040.

Keel, P. K., & Forney, K. J. (2013). Psychosocial risk factors for eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46, 433–439. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22094.

Lavender, J. M., Wonderlich, S. A., Engel, S. G., Gordon, K. H., Kaye, W. H., & Mitchell, J. E. (2015). Dimensions of emotion dysregulation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: a conceptual review of the empirical literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 40, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.05.010.

Matthews, G., Jones, D. M., & Chamberlain, A. G. (1990). Refining the measurement of mood: The UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist. British Journal of Psychology, 81, 17–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1990.tb02343.x.

Miller, L. C., Berg, J. H., & Archer, R. L. (1983). Openers: Individuals who elicit intimate self-disclosure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1234– 1244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.6.1234.

Mitchell, K. S., Wolf, E. J., Reardon, A. F., & Miller, M. W. (2014). Association of eating disorder symptoms with internalizing and externalizing dimensions of psychopathology among men and women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47, 860–869. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.2230.

National Eating Disorder Association – NEDA (2013). Eating disorder on the college campus. Retrieved from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/CollegiateSurveyProject.

Pruitt, J. A., Kappius, R. E., & Gorman, P. W. (1992). Bulimia and fear of intimacy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 472–476.

Randall, B. A., Rotenberg, K. J., Totenhagen, C., Rock, M., & Harmon, C. (2010). A new scale for the assessment of adolescents’ trust beliefs. In K. J. Rotenberg (Eds.), Interpersonal trust during childhood and adolescence (pp. 247–269). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511750946.012.

Reiss, D., & Johnson-Sabine, E. (1995). Bulimia nervosa: 5-year social outcome and relationship to eating pathology. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18, 127–133. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-108X(199509)18:23.0.CO;2-Q.

Rotenberg, K. J., Addis, N., Betts, L. R., Fox, C., Hobson, Z., Rennison, S., Trueman, M., & Boulton, M. J. (2010). The relation between trust beliefs and loneliness during early childhood, middle childhood and adulthood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1086–1100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210374957.

Rotenberg, K. J., Bharathi, C., Davies, H., & Finch, T. (2013). Bulimic symptoms and the social withdrawal syndrome. Eating Behaviors, 14, 281–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.05.003.

Rotenberg, K. J., Bharathi, C., Davies, H., & Finch, T. (2017). Obesity and the social withdrawal syndrome. Eating Behaviors, 26, 167–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2017.03.006.

Rotenberg, K. J., & Sangha, R. (2015). Bulimic symptoms and the social withdrawal syndrome during early adolescence. Eating Behaviors, 19, 177–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.09.008.

Smink, F. R., van Hoeken, D., & Hoek, H. W. (2012). Epidemiology of eating disorders: Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates. Current Psychiatry Reports, 14, 406–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920- 012-0282-y.

Steiger, H., Gauvin, L., Jabalpurwala, S., Séguin, J. R., & Stotland, S. (1999). Hypersensitivity to social interactions in bulimic syndromes: Relationship to binge eating. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 765–775. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.67.5.765.

Tasca, G. A., & Balfour, L. (2014). Attachment and eating disorders: a review of current research. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47, 710–717. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22302.

Williams, G. J., Power, K. G., Miller, H. R., Freeman, C. P., Yellowlees, A., Dowds, T., Walker, M., & ParryJones, W. L. (1994). Development and validation of the Stirling Eating Disorder Scales. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 16, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-108X(199407)16:13.0.CO;2-4.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

Rotenberg, K. J. R., Manley, E., & Mee, S. (2023). A test of the social withdrawal syndrome hypothesis of bulimia nervosa. Health Psychology Report, 11(4), 354–359. Retrieved from https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/HPR/article/view/10670

Issue

Section

Artykuły