Department of Psychology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.
Eat Behav. 2013 Aug;14(3):366-73. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.06.013. Epub 2013 Jul 9.
Patients with eating disorders tend to experience low levels of body esteem. To assess the psychosocial processes that may predict low body esteem in these individuals, we assessed the structural interrelations among attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, alexithymia, and body esteem in a cross-sectional sample of patients with eating disorders. We tested a model in which alexithymia mediates the relationship between attachment insecurity and body esteem. Participants were 300 women with anorexia nervosa (n = 109), bulimia nervosa (n = 130), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (n = 61) who completed pretreatment self-report questionnaires at intake for a day hospital treatment program. We found a direct and negative relationship between attachment anxiety and body esteem. Additionally, attachment avoidance had an indirect negative relationship to body esteem through alexithymia. These results indicate that therapists may attend to attachment insecurity and affective regulation strategies when addressing body image issues in patients with eating disorders.
患有饮食失调症的患者往往自尊心较低。为了评估可能预测这些人自尊心低下的心理社会过程，我们在患有饮食失调症的横断面样本中评估了依恋焦虑、依恋回避、述情障碍和身体自尊之间的结构相互关系。我们测试了一个模型，其中述情障碍中介了不安全感与身体自尊之间的关系。参与者是 300 名患有神经性厌食症（n = 109）、神经性贪食症（n = 130）和未特指饮食障碍（n = 61）的女性，她们在参加日间医院治疗计划时完成了入院前的自我报告问卷。我们发现依恋焦虑与身体自尊之间存在直接的负相关关系。此外，通过述情障碍，依恋回避对身体自尊也存在间接的负相关关系。这些结果表明，治疗师在解决饮食失调症患者的身体形象问题时，可能会关注依恋不安全感和情感调节策略。
