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An examination of eating and thinness expectancies as predictors of eating disturbances in females: evidence for cultural differences between European American and Chinese college students

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study sought to examine the utility of eating expectancy, thinness expectancy, and the interactive role of both, in predicting eating disturbances (viz., bulimic symptoms and drive for thinness) in European American and Chinese female college students.

Methods

A sample of 237 European American and 221 Chinese female college students completed measures of eating and thinness expectancies and eating disturbances.

Results

Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that thinness expectancy significantly predicted increases in both drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms (with these increases being greater for European Americans), whereas eating expectancy predicted increases in bulimic symptoms only. In addition, for European Americans, a significant interaction for bulimic symptoms was found, revealing a synergistic increase in bulimic symptoms for those with both a high thinness expectancy and a high eating expectancy. For Chinese, a significant interaction for drive for thinness was found, demonstrating that for those with a high thinness expectancy, a higher eating expectancy was actually associated with a lower drive for thinness.

Conclusion

The present findings point to the value of examining for the co-presence of both expectancies in predicting eating disturbances while also highlighting cultural variations in the study of eating pathology.

Level of evidence

Descriptive cross-sectional study, level V.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 1 East Jackson, Chicago, IL, 60604, USA

    Mingqi Li

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Edward C. Chang, Olivia D. Chang & Abigael G. Lucas

  3. Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

    Hongfei Yang

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  1. Mingqi Li
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  2. Edward C. Chang
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  3. Olivia D. Chang
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Correspondence to Mingqi Li or Edward C. Chang.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board of University of Michigan (reference number: HUM00153611) and Zhejiang University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Li, M., Chang, E.C., Chang, O.D. et al. An examination of eating and thinness expectancies as predictors of eating disturbances in females: evidence for cultural differences between European American and Chinese college students. Eat Weight Disord 25, 1285–1293 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-019-00761-1

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