Achievement motivation profiles and coping styles of women with binge eating disorder. A study of a clinical sample of women in Poland

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Today, more and more people struggle with eating disorders. To be able to propose effective therapeutic and treatment interventions for these individuals, scholars need to gain a deeper understanding of the psychological factors that underlie eating disorders. The aim of the study was to determine whether women with binge eating disorder (BED) differed from healthy women in coping styles and achievement motivation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 86 adult women participated in the study: 43 women with BED and a comparison group of 43 women without an eating disorder (nED). The following instruments were used: Endler and Parker's Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and Schuler, Thornton, Frintrup and Prochaska's Achievement Motivation Inventory (Leistungsmotivationsinventar, LMI). RESULTS: Women with BED were found to predominantly use emotion-oriented coping strategies, while women with nED were more likely to use task-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping styles, in particular looking for social contacts and engaging in substitute activities. The two groups of women also had significantly different scores on the dimensions of Achievement Motivation. Women with BED scored lower than women with nED on as many as 12 LMI scales, and had lower total scores; the only scale on which they had higher scores than their healthy counterparts was Pride in Productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Binge eating women differ from healthy women in both coping styles and the level of achievement motivation. Women who binge eat cannot cope effectively with high levels of stress and tend to respond to stressful situations with intense emotions, which may increase their need for compulsive overeating. They also have difficulty achieving goals and objectives.