Interrelationships among multiple aspects of body image and eating disturbance

The relationships among several indices of body size estimation and eating disturbance were examined in 72 college females. Measures of absolute size and estimated size had stronger correlations with eating disturbance than degree of perceptual size overestimation. Overestimation of self was highly related to estimates of the size of inanimate objects, suggesting the presence of a general perceptual deficit. Actual size was negatively correlated with degree of overestimation, indicating that small-sized individuals overestimate to a greater degree than large subjects. The necessity of a multifaceted assessment approach for body image research is discussed.