Griffiths Scott, Mond Jonathan M, Murray Stuart B, Touyz Stephen
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Research School of Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2015 Sep;49(9):812-20. doi: 10.1177/0004867415572412. Epub 2015 Feb 17.
The ego-syntonic nature of anorexia nervosa means that sufferers often deny their symptoms or experience them as positive or comforting. Positive beliefs about eating disorder symptoms may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of eating-disordered behaviour. To date, however, research in this field has been confined to women and anorexia nervosa. Given increasing scientific interest in muscle dysmorphia, a potential eating disorder with ego-syntonic qualities, there is a need to extend current research to include men and muscle dysmorphia. The present study examined whether positive beliefs about anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia were associated with more marked eating disorder symptoms and explored sex differences in these associations.
Male and female university students (n = 492) read descriptions of a male or female character with clinically significant symptoms of anorexia nervosa or muscle dysmorphia. Participants subsequently answered questions about the characters and completed a measure of disordered eating. Knowledge, personal history and interpersonal familiarity with the conditions were assessed.
Results from two simultaneous multiple regressions showed that more positive beliefs about anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia were uniquely associated with more eating disorder symptoms for both male and female participants. Effect sizes for these relationships were medium to large (partial eta-squared = 0.09-0.10). The relationships were not moderated by the sex of the participant, nor the sex of the character.
Although preliminary, these findings suggest that, among young men and women, positive beliefs about anorexia nervosa and muscle dysmorphia may contribute to the development and maintenance of these conditions. Some symptoms of muscle dysmorphia may be perceived as ego-syntonic, providing another parallel with anorexia nervosa.
神经性厌食症的自我和谐本质意味着患者常常否认自己的症状，或者将其视为积极的或令人宽慰的体验。对饮食失调症状的积极信念可能会导致饮食失调行为的发展和/或维持。然而，迄今为止，该领域的研究仅限于女性和神经性厌食症。鉴于对肌肉畸形症（一种具有自我和谐特质的潜在饮食失调症）的科学兴趣日益增加，有必要将当前的研究扩展到男性和肌肉畸形症。本研究调查了对神经性厌食症和肌肉畸形症的积极信念是否与更明显的饮食失调症状相关，并探讨了这些关联中的性别差异。
男女大学生（n = 492）阅读了具有神经性厌食症或肌肉畸形症临床显著症状的男性或女性角色的描述。参与者随后回答了关于这些角色的问题，并完成了一项饮食失调测量。评估了对这些病症的了解、个人经历和人际熟悉程度。
两个同时进行的多元回归结果表明，对神经性厌食症和肌肉畸形症更积极的信念与男性和女性参与者更多的饮食失调症状均有独特关联。这些关系的效应大小为中等至较大（偏 eta 平方 = 0.09 - 0.10）。这些关系不受参与者性别或角色性别的调节。
尽管是初步的，但这些发现表明，在年轻男性和女性中，对神经性厌食症和肌肉畸形症的积极信念可能会导致这些病症的发展和维持。肌肉畸形症的一些症状可能被视为自我和谐的，这为与神经性厌食症提供了另一个相似之处。
