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Disordered Eating, Anxiety 10
points: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. This suggests that while the experimental
writing group benefited initially, both groups experienced a non-significant decrease in
the behavioral outcome over the following month (see Figure 4).
Figure 4
Changes in Behavior: Pre-Test, Post-Test, and
Follow-Up (Revised Version)
2.5
Average Number of Binges and Purges
Across a Week
2
1.5
1
0.5
Written Emotional
Disclosure
Control
Pre-Test and Post
Test: N = 54
Follow-Up: N=48
0
Pre-Test Post-Test Follow-Up
Time
Written Emotional Disclosure and Disordered Eating—Preoccupation Outcome
The second outcome variable measuring disordered eating was the preoccupation
outcome, which measured the frequency of negative, intrusive thoughts related to body
image and food consumption. Because of the difference in scales between the hunger
subscale of the TFEQ and the perception subscales of the EDE, these variables were first
converted to z-scores and then collapsed to form the preoccupation outcome. To examine
the relationship between written emotional disclosure and the preoccupation outcome, the
two writing groups were compared at three time points. A 2 (treatment) X 3 (time)
repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted. No significant interaction was found
between the two treatment groups at the different time levels (F = .552, p = .461).
Correlations of the Mediators—Post-Test
Because no significant interaction was found between the treatment groups and
the two behavioral outcomes, measuring the strength of mediation was not appropriate.
Instead, the correlations between the three mediators (anxiety, negative affect, and body
dissatisfaction) and the two outcome variables (behavior and preoccupation) were
explored at the post-test and follow-up in order to see if these could potentially function
as mediators in future studies.
The correlations reveal that, at the post-test, anxiety, negative affect, and body
dissatisfaction were not related to the behavioral outcome. The correlations of these three
mediators were related to the preoccupation outcome, although the only significant
correlation was between body dissatisfaction and the preoccupation outcome (r = .487, p
< .01). This suggests that anxiety, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction may function
as mediators in the context of a more successful intervention.
However, it is important to note that the groups were non-equivalent at the pretest.
Therefore, the change in anxiety, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction were
compared to the change in both the behavioral outcome and the preoccupation outcome.