Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Art

First Advisor

Marilyn Patterson

Second Advisor

Edward Doerr

Third Advisor

James Jarvis

Abstract

By their own nature Eating Disorders are very self-destructive and potentially life threatening behaviors. They are symptoms which may represent a constellation of underlying problems. This investigation explores the relation of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness to eating disorder symptomatology in a sample of 171 undergraduate women. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA). Shame was significantly and positively correlated with drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, interpersonal distrust, lack of interoceptive awareness, asceticism, difficulties with impulse regulation, and social insecurity. Guilt was negatively or negligibly correlated with these symptoms. These two correlative findings impact clinical considerations by highlighting the necessity of therapeutic interventions to address shame in the treatment of eating disorders.

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