- Childhood sexual abuse is a risk factor, but not every abused child grows to develop an eating disorder, nor is it clear why there should be a link.
Research
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Casper and Lyubomirsky (1997) suggest that adverse early experiences lead to other psychopathologies underlying eating disorders.
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Polivy and Herman (2002) suggested that where a person feels their life is `out of control` in some way, controlling themselves and their body and weight provides them with a sense of control. Individuals therefore derive emotional gratification from anorexia.
Cognitive factors
- Anorexia is associated with obsessive thoughts and rigid thinking patterns.
- Socio-cultural pressures can be converted into behaviours through cognitive processes.
- Once established, negative schemata about weight distort perceptions and experience.
- Consequently, self worth becomes dependent on weight control.
Research
Copper (2005) says anorexics:
- Experience disturbances in information processing about food and eating, weight and body shape.
- Have attentional biases to food, weight and body shape, as revealed by a modified Stroop procedure.
- Have a memory bias for words related to food, weight and body shape.
Personality and dispositional factors:
Stress and low mood may precede the onset of anorexia, and mood disorders often co-occur. It is not clear whether such things are a cause or consequence however.
Low self-esteem
- Prominent among those with eating disorders.
- May be due to distorted body perception.
- Anorexia may be a coping strategy, a means of establishing control and combating low self-esteem.
- Perfectionism may be a predisposing factor.
- Perfectionists set very high standards for themselves and are very self-critical, possibly leading to damaged self-esteem.
Research
Bardone-Cone et al (2007) found that anorexics score highly on measures of perfectionism, also correlated highly with body dissatisfaction and the pursuit of thinness.
Body dissatisfaction
- Negative feelings about the self are often expressed as negative feelings about the body.
- Body dissatisfaction is associated with dieting, which in turn is associated with anorexia.
- The influence of media is thought to operate through body dissatisfaction. May be exaggerated, or developed through media images of thinness.
Research
Polivy and Herman (2002) say body dissatisfaction is a `necessary` factor in the development of anorexia but does not wholly explain it. Unhappiness with one's body is possible without dieting.
Sociocultural factors
- Preoccupation with thinness is only found in cultures where food is abundant.
- The more thinness is prized the more prevalent it is.
- Such preoccupation can both cause and maintain the disorder.
- There is however huge variation in the desire to be thin within every culture.
Family systems theory
Anorexia has been thought to be a symptom of dysfunctional family relationships and structures.
Disturbed families
Minuchin et al (1978) suggest a family may exhibit at least one of the following:
Enmeshment: Parents are intrusive and over-involved, dismissive of child's emotional needs.
Over-protection: Family members are over-concerned about parenting.
Rigidity: Tendency to avoid change and maintain status quo.
Conflict avoidance: Conflicts remain unresolved.
Bennett (2005) suggests that anorexia helps to direct attention away from other problems in the family. Weight loss might also be used as a way of gaining acceptance, of punishing parents and avoiding responsibilities.
Family reinforcement
- Families reinforce anorexia by praising slenderness and self-control.
Evaluation:
Polivy and Herman (2005) - A problem is that family research of this kind is correlational and retrospective and so the cause of the disorder is impossible to determine clearly.
by
thenainoji (student)
