Disordered Eating, Coping, and Perfectionism in a College Sample

Abstract

Perfectionistic tendencies and coping strategies have been implicated as important factors in both the onset and maintenance of eating disorders but have not been widely researched in conjunction with each other. Given the elevated levels of eating disorders and subclinical manifestations among college student populations, this study surveyed 180 undergraduate students about multiple aspects of health and well-being, in addition to disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, coping strategies, and trait perfectionism. Results showed that avoidant coping strategies are positively associated with measures of disordered eating. In addition, certain dimensions of perfectionism correlated with avoidant coping and other dimensions correlated with problem-focused coping. Implications for treatments targeted at improving coping strategies in individuals with disordered eating are discussed.