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Disordered Eating, Anxiety 12
eating, such as negative affect and body dissatisfaction (Stice, 2002). However, because
no significant results were found between the two writing conditions and the reduction in
disordered eating symptomlogy, tests of mediation were not appropriate and confirmation
of these previous studies was not assessed.
It is important, however, to note the success of the correlations. Pennebaker
(1997) found that, immediately after participation in a written emotional disclosure
treatment, participants actually experienced an increase in anxiety. The reduction in
anxiety typically occurred a month later. The current study found support for this past
research—at the one-month follow-up, the strength of correlation between the frequency
of body and weight concerns with anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and negative affect
shows that powerful mediators are being tapped. Anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and
negative affect are linked to the preoccupation aspect of disordered eating symptomology
(Stice, 2002). Ways to both link and reduce these three components should continue to
be explored.
It was also predicted that those who participated in the written emotional
disclosure group would experience a reduction in disordered eating symptomology.
Although the frequency of body and weight concerns did not change for either group, the
average number of binges and purges in one week did. In fact, both the written emotional
disclosure group and the neutral writing group experienced an overall trend toward lower
instances of binging and purging. This finding is important because it suggests that any
writing—not simply writing about stress or anxiety—contributes to a reduction in the
behavioral symptoms of disordered eating. Because the mediation of anxiety, body
dissatisfaction, and negative affect could not be measured, the reason why writing
produced these results remains unclear. A more controlled study that includes a third,
non-writing control is needed to measure the strength of this result. Furthermore, a study
that includes 3, or even 4, writing sessions would help to flesh out the effect of writing.
Theoretical Implications
The present study found further support for the link between body dissatisfaction,
negative affect, and the frequency of body and weight concerns associated with
disordered eating. It also revealed that anxiety plays a role in these body and weight
concerns as well. Anxiety has been successfully linked with bulimia (Godart et al.,
2003), and now it must be explored in other disordered eating behaviors as well. Anxiety
may play a predictive role in the frequency of negative and intrusive thoughts that
accompany disordered eating behavior, and its importance should not be overlooked.
Furthermore, the fact that both conditions benefited behaviorally from writing
supports the written emotional disclosure paradigm. From an observational perspective,
the writing of both groups was identical—the journals about the events of a day contained
as much anxiety-related material as the journals about stressful concerns. This accounts
for why both groups experienced less binging and purging at the one-month follow-up;
although without finding any clear mediation, the reason why written emotional
disclosure produced this result remains unclear. This finding argues for the application of
the written emotional disclosure paradigm to a wide-range of psychological disorders,
and possibly those linked with anxiety.