Bulimic symptomatology: the role of adaptive perfectionism, shape and weight concern, and self-esteem

Abstract

An interactive model implicating high perfectionism, high weight and shape concern, and low self-esteem in the onset and maintenance of bulimic symptoms (Bardone, Vohs, Abramson, Heatherton, & Joiner, 2000; Vohs, Bardone, Joiner, Abramson, & Heatherton, 1999) has received mixed support. This study aimed to replicate the cross-sectional model in a clinical sample of women with eating disorders, and to investigate whether the model could predict changes in binge eating and purging at the end of treatment. Eating disorder outpatients (n=353) completed measures of perfectionism, weight/shape concern, self-esteem, and bulimic symptoms at pre-treatment and discharge. Contrary to the hypotheses, the three-way interaction did not predict binge eating or purging cross-sectionally or prospectively as a moderator of psychotherapy outcome. It was concluded that the robustness of the interactive model seems questionable and may be impacted by an inadequate conceptualization of the perfectionism construct.