Abstract
The current study explored how body dissatisfaction and challenges associated with the transition to university predicted symptoms of binge eating. Participants were 101 female full-time first-year university students (M=18.3 years of age; SD=.50) who completed a background questionnaire and a web-based daily checklist assessing binge eating. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling results showed that participants who were more dissatisfied with their bodies were three times as likely to report symptoms of binge eating compared to participants who were less dissatisfied. Participants who lived away from home were three times as likely to report symptoms of binge eating compared to participants living with parents. Finally, poor perceived social adjustment to the university context was associated with an increased likelihood of binge eating. Discussion calls for more research exploring the role that university challenges and adjustment play in predicting eating problems.
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Notes
The binge eating subscale utilized in this study was adapted and reproduced by special permission of Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., 16204 North Florida Avenue, Lutz, Florida 33549, from the Eating Disorders Inventory (collectively, EDI and EDI-2) by Garner, Olmstead, and Polivy, Copyright 1983 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Further reproduction is prohibited without prior permission from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant to N. Galambos and J. Maggs. Erin Barker was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship and a University of Alberta Killam Memorial Scholarship. Portions of this research were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Francisco, CA, March, 2006, and constituted part of Erin Barker’s doctoral dissertation. Erin Barker thanks the members of her examination committee, and members of the Making the Transition research team for their assistance.
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Erin Barker is now a post-doctoral fellow at Child and Family Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include internalizing problems in adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Nancy Galambos is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, at the University of Alberta. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include psychosocial adjustment and maturity in the transition to adulthood.
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Barker, E.T., Galambos, N.L. Body Dissatisfaction, Living Away from Parents, and Poor Social Adjustment Predict Binge Eating Symptoms in Young Women Making the Transition to University. J Youth Adolescence 36, 904–911 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9134-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9134-6