Denoma,
J.M., Gordon, K.H., Bardone,
A., Vohs, K.D., Abramson, L.Y., Heatherton, T., & Joiner, T.E.
(in press). A Test of an Interactive Model of Bulimic Symptomatology
in Adult Women. Behavior Therapy.
An interactive
model of bulimic symptom development, first suggested by Vohs et al.
(1999), was tested in adult women (mean age = 45.19). The hypothesis
that women high in perfectionism, low in self-esteem, and who perceive
themselves as overweight would be the most likely to experience an
increase in bulimic symptoms was examined in a longitudinal design
over 2.5 years. Results supported the model with regard to maintenance
and exacerbation, but not onset, of bulimic symptoms. Furthermore,
the interactive model was tested to see if it showed specificity to
bulimic, versus depressive or anxious, symptoms. Some support
for the model’s specificity to bulimic symptoms was observed;
however, the increase of anxious symptoms was also observed.
Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.
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Gordon,
K.H., Brattole, M., Wingate, L. & Joiner, T.E. Jr.
The impact of client race on clinician detection of eating disorders.
Behavior Therapy.
Eating disorders are thought to occur less among African-American
women than among women of other ethnic groups. Ninety-one clinicians
read 1 of 3 passages (differing only with regards to the girl’s
race: African-American, Caucasian, or Hispanic) describing disturbed
eating patterns of a fictional character named Mary. Participants
were then asked to indicate if they thought Mary had a problem and
to rate her anxiety, depression, and eating disorder symptoms based
upon the passage they had read. The results suggest that clinicians
may have race-based stereotypes about eating disorders that could
impede their detection of symptoms in African-American girls.
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Gordon,
K.H., Denoma, J.M., Bardone, A., Abramson, L.Y., & Joiner,T.E.
(2005). Self-Competence and the Prediction of Bulimic Symptomsin
Older Women. Behavior Therapy, 36(2), 169-175.
Previous
research in undergraduate women has demonstrated that an individual's
level of self-competence was a stronger predictor of bulimic symptom
change than their level of self-liking (Bardone, Perez, Abramson,
& Joiner, 2003). The authors examined whether self-competence
would similarly predict bulimic symptom change in a sample of older
women. In April 2000, a large group of adults attending mood disorder
conferences completed questionnaires about eating disorder symptoms
and self-esteem. Approximately 2.5 years later, 150 women, 45 years
of age and older, were contacted for a follow-up study. Eighty-eight
women completed follow-up eating disorder and self-esteem measures.
Consistent with prior research, self-competence emerged as a stronger
predictor of bulimic symptom change than self-liking, such that lower
self-competence was associated with an increase in bulimic symptoms.
The results indicate that self-competence may serve as a useful prognostic
indicator and therapeutic target for older women seeking treatment
for eating disorders.
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Maner,
J. K., Denoma, J. M., Van Orden, K. A., Gailliot, M. T., Gordon,
K. H., & Joiner T. E. (in press). Evidence for Attentional
Bias in Women Exhibiting Bulimotypic Symptoms. International
Journal of Eating Disorders.
Objective:
One of the defining features of bulimia is a pervasive tendency to
focus on and evaluate one’s own body. The extent to which bulimotypic
symptoms are associated with biases in attention to other individuals
in the social world is less well known. In the current study, we examined
the relationship between bulimotypic symptoms and biases in attention
to other men and women. Method: A sample of undergraduate women performed
a visual cueing task designed to assess attention to target faces
varying in their sex and level of attractiveness. Results: Women with
relatively high levels of bulimotypic symptomatology tended to dwell
on attractive female faces, but not other faces. This attentional
bias was not attributable to perfectionistic ideals, body dissatisfaction,
or self-esteem. Discussion: Findings could reflect a link between
disordered eating and the perception of competitive threat in other
attractive women.
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