Publication Date

5-1-2007

Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) has recently been conceptualized as the male form of Eating Disorders (ED), although it is not currently classified as an ED. The current study compares etiological models of MD symptomatology (based on Grieve's [2007] conceptual model of MD) and ED symptomatology (based on Stice's [1994] conceptual model of Bulimia Nervosa). In both models, it was hypothesized that sociocultural influences on appearance (SIA) would predict body dissatisfaction (BD), and that this relationship would be mediated by self-esteem (SE) and perfectionism (P); that BD would predict negative affect (NA); and that NA would predict MD and ED symptomatology. Two-hundred-forty-seven female and 101 male college students at a mid-south university completed the study via on-line data collection. All participants completed the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3, the State Self-Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, The Eating Attitudes Test-26, and the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory. Women completed the Body Shape Questionnaire, and men completed the Male Body Attitudes Scale. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test each model's fit. In both models, most predictor paths were significant. However, in the MD model, SIA and P combined did not predict BD. The combined effects of SIA, SE, P, and BD failed to predict NA in both models. In the MD model, the combined effects of SIA, SE, P, BD, and NA failed to predict MD symptomatology. These results suggest that ED symptomatology and MD symptomatology etiological models are somewhat similar. It is suggested that P and NA be removed from future etiological models of MD.

Disciplines

Physiology | Psychology

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