Stress, coping, and disturbed eating attitudes in teenage girls

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the relationship between stressors and disturbed eating attitudes among adolescent females, assessing the moderating role of coping and the mediating influence of poor self-esteem. METHOD: Two hundred eighty-six teenage girls were recruited from local schools, and completed standardized measures of stressors, coping, self-esteem, perfectionism, and disturbed eating attitudes. Regression analyses were used to test for moderating and mediating effects. RESULTS: Stressors and emotion-focused coping were found to be associated with low self-esteem, which in turn was strongly associated with disturbed eating attitudes. Stressors were also directly related to disturbed eating attitudes. DISCUSSION: The findings provide partial support for existing models of the etiology and maintenance of eating psychopathology, but have wider implications for our understanding of the eating disorders and their treatment.