Predictors of Drive for Thinness in Female College Students in Beijing / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the predictors of drive for thinness in female college students in Beijing. Methods: 499 female students were investigated with Drive For Thinness of EDI, Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults and BMI-based Silhouette Matching Test (BMI-SMT). Results: The deviation of perception, the deviation of expectation of one's own body and body-esteem were found to be predictors of drive for thinness. For someone with normal weight, the deviation of perception, the deviation of expectation of one's own body were significantly larger than someone slightly underweight and very underweight, the body-esteem were significantly lower and their drive for thinness were significantly greater. Conclusion: The distorting perception, the unreasonable expectation of one's own body and low body-esteem are important predictors of drive for thinness, which will then cause eating disorder in female college students.