Body dissatisfaction and irrational beliefs

To test the hypothesis that the irrational, evaluative beliefs, postulated by Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, are associated with body dissatisfact ion, 94 women (21 diagnosed with an eating disorder, 38 with high body diss atisfaction but without an eating disorder, and 35 with low body dissatisfa ction) completed the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the Eating Disorders In ventory. Analysis showed no significant difference in body dissatisfaction between the Eating Disordered and High Body Dissatisfaction subgroups. No s ignificant correlations between body dissatisfaction and irrational beliefs were found for the Eating Disordered subgroup. For the High Body Dissatisf action subgroup, significant but low correlations were found between scores on body dissatisfaction and irrational standards for self and others and w ith negative self-rating. In terms of irrational beliefs the Eating Disorde red and High Body Dissatisfaction subgroups showed a significantly greater tendency towards Catastrophizing, Low Frustration Tolerance, and Negative s elf-rating, compared to the controls, without any significant difference be tween the former two groups. The Eating Disordered subgroup but not the Hig h Body Dissatisfaction subgroup differed significantly from the controls in terms of more Self-directed demands.