Disordered Eating Behavior and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms in College Students: Cognitive and Affective Similarities

Abstract

Few studies have examined the psychological similarities between disordered eating behavior and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. The present study examined relationships among disordered eating, OC symptoms, and three cognitive and affective variables (perfectionism, obsessive beliefs, and negative affect). The cognitive and affective variables were significantly associated with disordered eating and with OC symptoms in a sample of 160 college women. Results also indicated that perfectionism is an important link between disordered eating behavior and OC symptoms, although the nature of perfectionism differs somewhat for the two types of behavior. Implications of the current results and directions for future research are discussed.

We thank Jessica J. Kirkpatrick for her assistance in collecting data and thank Stephanie Harter and Emily (Young) Ibert for their valuable comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.