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Fikkan, Janna L.

Psychology

2008

PhD

Dietary restraint (DR) and negative affect (NA) have been identified within the eating disorder literature as important and proximal risk factors for the development of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN). Previous work by Stice has examined how these risk factors work in conjunction with other risk factors. However, less research has sought to understand how NA and DR relate to each other. Functional theories of AN have proposed that the focus on food, calories and body weight inherent to restraint may function to distract attention from aversive emotional states, implying that DR may develop within the context of NA. Thus, the primary aims of the current study were to 1) test alternate models of the Dual Pathway Model of BN to assess whether a fit to the data was more likely when NA predicted DR than when DR predicted NA and 2) test a mediation model in which experiential avoidance, which is characterized as efforts to escape or avoid thoughts, feelings, memories, or other private events, serves as the mechanism by which NA leads to DR. A secondary aim of the study was to test an alternate mediation model using a measure of avoidant coping, a construct similar to experiential avoidance, as the mediator between NA and DR. A sample of undergraduate women (N=282) completed questionnaires online that assessed eating disorder symptoms, NA, avoidant coping and difficulty tolerating negative thoughts or emotions. Regression analyses were used to test the main predictions of the Dual Pathway Model. Path analysis was then used to compare the relative fit of two versions of the Dual Pathway Model of Bulimia Nervosa, as well to test the indirect effect specified in each of the two mediation models. Results indicated that data from the current sample supported the main predictions of the Dual Pathway Model. However, there was no meaningful difference between the fit of the two versions of model, suggesting that NA is as likely to predict DR as it is to be predicted by it. Finally, there was no support for the mediation models. Neither the indirect effect of NA on DR through experiential avoidance as a mediator, nor the one through avoidant coping, was significant. Findings of this investigation are discussed in relation to identifying which individuals (if any) may be most likely to engage in DR as a means of avoiding NA, and how future research might best measure the construct of experiential avoidance.