Body-, Eating-, and Exercise-Related Comparisons During Eating Disorder Recovery and Validation of the BEECOM-R

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-27-2019

Publication Title

Psychology of Women Quarterly

First page number:

1

Last page number:

15

Abstract

Social comparison tendencies are strongly associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. In the current study, we quantitatively examined the structure and predictive value of these constructs during eating disorder recovery. We revised an existing measure of body-, eating-, and exercise-related social comparisons, the Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measure (BEECOM), to improve psychometric properties. We also assessed the psychometric properties of the shortened Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measure-Revised (BEECOM-R) in a comparison sample, resulting in an abbreviated measure suitable for recovering, clinical, and non-clinical samples. Finally, we used the revised measure to examine the additive influence of body-, eating-, and exercise-related comparisons on shape and weight dissatisfaction and disordered eating cognitions among 150 women (ages of 18–35 years) in self-identified recovery. Results suggest that body-, eating-, and exercise-related social comparisons all continue to correlate with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating during recovery. A minority of participants reported these comparisons to be helpful during the recovery process. We recommend social comparison as a clinical target for most women seeking support for eating pathology.

Keywords

Social comparison; Body dissatisfaction; Recovery; Eating disorder; Eating pathology

Disciplines

Mental Disorders | Psychiatry and Psychology | Social Psychology | Women's Health

Language

English

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