Appearance issues, depression, and disordered eating among college females

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how various appearance issues and depression may relate to disordered eating among female college students. The appearance issues analyzed in this study were: level of body dissatisfaction, body mass index (BMI), social appearance anxiety (SAA), and social-cultural attitudes toward appearance. The questionnaire was distributed to volunteer students during regularly scheduled classes. Students, both study participants and non-participants, were furnished with information on where to get help if they had concerns about disordered eating behavior, appearance-related anxiety, or depression. Participants were 370 female undergraduate students enrolled at one Midwestern University in the United States. This study provided statistical evidence that college females at risk of acquiring an eating disorder had significantly larger differences between their current body shape and their ideal body shape, scored significantly higher in the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, had more SAA, and depress ion compared to those less at risk of acquiring an eating disorder. However, the BMI of college females at risk of acquiring an eating disorder did not differ significantly from the BMI of college female students less at risk. This study contributes to a better understanding of disordered eating and how it relates to appearance issues, and depression.

Keywords

• appearance issues
• depression
• disordered eating
• college females
• appearance anxiety