Family dysfunction and bulimic psychopathology: The mediating role of shame

✍ Scribed by Murray, Clare ;Waller, Glenn ;Legg, Charles

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 143 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(200007)28:1<84::aid-eat10>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

Objective:

Although disturbed family function has some association with bulimic psychopathology, the psychological mechanisms that account for that link are not clear. this study explores the hypothesis that shame acts as a mediator in that relationship, whereas shame-proneness is a moderator variable.

Method:

The participants were 139 nonclinical women. each completed measures of perceived family function, shame-proneness, internalized shame, and bulimic psychopathology. regression analyses were used to test for the mediating and moderating effects of shame.

Results:

The findings were compatible with a model where shame-proneness acts as a moderator and internalized shame is a perfect mediator in the link between paternal overprotection and bulimic attitudes.

Conclusions:

The experience of shame appears to be a critical element in understanding the relationship between perceived family dysfunction and bulimic psychopathology. where individuals perceive their families as problematic, it may be clinically valuable to focus on shame as a psychological consequence of that experience.