PSYCHOLOGICAL SEPARATION, SELF-CONTROL, AND WEIGHT PREOCCUPATION AMONG ELITE WOMEN ATHLETES

Given the paucity of research on the prevalence of eating disorders in college athletes, the authors raised two questions: (a) Is weight pre occupation more prevalent among elite women athletes than among their nonathletic counterparts? (b) Does the empirical link between psycholo gical distress and weight preoccupation pertain to elite athletes as w ell? Results showed that 10.9% of a sample of elite swimmers could be characterized as ''weight preoccupied, '' a percentage comparable to t he general population of college women. In addition, the athletes repo rted using significantly more benign than punitive self-control strate gies, suggesting for them, weight preoccupation is a means to an end r ather than an indication of an eating disorder. Implications for couns eling are discussed.