The effects of social support and coping on the relationship between social anxiety and eating disorders

• Published in: Eating behaviors : an international journal 2010-04, Vol.11 (2), p.85-91
• Main Authors: Wonderlich-Tierney, Anna L., Vander Wal, Jillon S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Body Image; Coping behavior; Eating behavior disorders; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Personality Inventory; Phobia; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Social anxiety; Social Behavior; Social Support; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1471-0153; 1873-7358
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2009.10.002

The current study examined the hypotheses that social support and coping moderate and or mediate the relationship between a broad and a narrow form of social anxiety and eating disorder symptoms. One hundred sixty-nine female undergraduates at a private Midwestern university, completed measures of social support, coping, social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that higher levels of social support are associated with a weaker association between social anxiety and eating disorder symptomatology. Low use of task- and avoidant-oriented (distraction) coping and increased use of emotion-oriented coping are associated with a stronger association between social anxiety and eating disorder symptomatology. Implications for research and clinical intervention are discussed.