Female students' disordered eating and the big five personality facets

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Eating Disorders Research

Background:

• Disordered eating behaviors are a significant concern among young women.
• Personality traits are increasingly recognized as potential contributing factors to eating pathology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between personality traits and disordered eating symptoms in female undergraduate students.
• To identify specific personality facets associated with eating disorder symptomatology and subtypes.

Main Methods:

• Administered the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) to 378 female undergraduate students.
• Compared personality profiles of symptomatic (N=43) and nonsymptomatic (N=335) women.
• Analyzed correlations between EAT-26 subscales and NEO PI-R facets.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness were found between symptomatic and nonsymptomatic groups.
• Oral Control subscale correlated with Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness facets in symptomatic women.
• Impulsivity (Neuroticism facet) positively correlated with Bulimia and Food Preoccupation, but negatively with Oral Control and Dieting.

Conclusions:

• Elevated Neuroticism scores may represent a risk factor for developing disordered eating behaviors.
• The degree of impulsivity may predict susceptibility to specific eating disorder subtypes, such as bulimia or food preoccupation.