Personality and Psychological Factors as Predictors of Disordered Eating Among Female Collegiate Athletes

Abstract

This article examined the relationship of perfectionism, psychological well-being (self-esteem and optimism), reasons for exercising and appearance orientation to eating disorder classification among 204 female collegiate athletes. Multivariate analyses showed that only self-esteem, exercising to improve appearance and be more attractive, and appearance orientation differentiated significantly between the symptomatic/eating disordered athletes and those who were asymptomatic. No differences existed between the two groups of athletes on perfectionism, optimism, or exercising for fitness/health. For athletes, self-esteem, appearance orientation and exercising to be attractive and improve appearance were most important for understanding their level of disordered eating.

A version of this article was presented at the Annual Convention of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, St. Louis, MO, September, 2008. This study was supported by grants from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).