PERFECTIONISM, PERCEIVED WEIGHT STATUS, AND BULIMIC SYMPTOMS - 2 STUDIES TESTING A DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL

Among a total of 890 women from 2 separate nonclinical samples (1 coll ected in 1982 on college undergraduates, n = 435, and 1 collected in 1 992 on women who were in college in 1982, n = 455). the authors tested a diathesis-stress model of the interrelations of perfectionism, perc eived weight status, and bulimic symptoms. The authors predicted and f ound that perfectionism served as a risk factor for bulimic symptoms f or women who perceived themselves as overweight but did not serve as a risk factor for those who did not perceive themselves as overweight. Perceived weight activated perfectionism as a predictor of bulimic Sym ptoms; actual weight did not serve the same role. These findings are d iscussed in the context of recent clinical and social psychological th eory regarding development of bulimic symptoms.