Core beliefs in dieters and eating disordered women

The current study aimed to investigate the difference in the levels of core beliefs between eating disordered women and those who showed milder forms of symptomatology.

Thirty-five eating disordered women, 16 symptomatic dieters, 39 normal dieters and 34 non-clinical comparison women completed questionnaires measuring eating symptomatology (Eating Disorders Inventory [EDI]), core beliefs (Young Schema Questionnaire [YSQ]), depression (The Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II]) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory [RSE]).

With the exception of Entitlement beliefs, there were significant differences in the levels of core beliefs across all four groups. In particular, symptomatic dieters and eating disordered women differed on 8 YSQ subscales despite showing very similar level of eating symptomatology.

The current findings lend support to the discontinuity model that suggests that there are fundamental differences between women with a clinical eating disorder and those with milder eating psychopathology. The clinical and research implications of the present results were discussed.