Depression, coping, hassles, and body dissatisfaction: factors associated with disordered eating

Abstract

The objective was to explore what predicts first-year college women's disordered eating tendencies when they arrive on campus. The 215 first-year college women completed the surveys within the first 2weeks of classes. A structural model examined how much the Helplessness, Hopelessness, Haplessness Scale, the Brief COPE, the Brief College Student Hassle Scale, and the Body Shape Questionnaire predicted eating disordered tendencies (as measured by the Eating Attitudes Test). The Body Shape Questionnaire, the Helplessness, Hopelessness, Haplessness Scale (inversely), and the Denial subscale of the Brief COPE significantly predicted eating disorder tendencies in first-year college women. In addition, the Planning and Self-Blame subscales of the Brief COPE and the Helplessness, Hopelessness, Haplessness Scale predicted the Body Shape Questionnaire. In general, higher levels on the Helplessness, Hopelessness, Haplessness Scale and higher levels on the Brief College Student Hassle Scale related to higher levels on the Brief COPE. Coping seems to remove the direct path from stress and depression to disordered eating and body dissatisfaction.

Keywords: Body dissatisfaction; College women; Coping; Depression; Disordered eating; Hassles.