The prevalence of eating disorders among ethnically diverse populations has become increasingly evident over recent years. The existence of eating disorders across the socio-economic and global sphere has raised interest in the socio-cultural factors which influence diverse groups. However, there remains little research in the psychology field which explores these issues in relation to the development of eating disorders among Asian Americans. The fourth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) has characterized eating disorders into three separate categories; Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. The criteria for Anorexia Nervosa can be divided into four categories. The first category is the refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height. The second category is the intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though overweight. The third category is a disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight. The final category is in postmenarcheal females
[...] Ethnocultural identity and eating disorders in women of color. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 341-347. Altabe, M. (1998). Ethnicity and body image: Quantitative and qualitative analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders 153-159. Stice, E., Ziemba, C., Margolis, J. & Flick, P. (1996). The dual-pathway model differentiates bulimics, subclinical bulimics, and controls: Testing the continuity hypothesis. Behavior Therapy 531-549. Heinberg, L. J., Thompson, J. K. & Stormer, S. (1995). Development and validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire. International Journal of Eating Disorders 81-89. [...]
[...] History Prior to reviewing recent literature and studies on the prevalence of eating disorders among Asian American women, it is essential to present a succinct background and history of the disorder. Until recently, eating disorders were believed to exist as an illness which solely affected young, Caucasian, women of high socio-economic status (Bruch, 1973; Crago, Shisslak, & Estes, 1996; Pike & Walsh, 1996; Root, 1990). Eating disorders can be traced back as far as to the nineteenth century in American society. [...]
[...] Anticipated Results and Further Implications It is anticipated that due to the distinction of the control group and the experimental group of participants, researchers will be better able to analyze the influences of American cultural standards of thinness on Japanese American women living on the east coast because it will provide data from both participants who self-identified an eating disorder and those who did not self-identify an eating disorder. It is hypothesized that the experimental group of participants will exhibit levels of low-self esteem combined with strong ethnic identity while the control group will exhibit levels of high-self esteem combined with moderate to weak ethnic identity. [...]
[...] Nevertheless, because body preoccupation is a strong predictor of eating disorders, raising the self-esteem of Asian American women so that they are more resistant to pressures for thinness affecting their body attitudes may indirectly impact their eating practices (Phan & Tylka, 2006). Although there are many important findings as a result of the study, it is important to acknowledge the limitations as well as to further improve studies in the future. One of the major limitations is the method of data collection as it may have resulted in erroneous data. [...]
[...] Muthén, L. K. & Muthén, B. O. (2001). Mplus user's guide. (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén. Humphry, T. A. & Ricciardelli, L. A. (2004). The development of eating pathology in Chinese-Australian women: Acculturation versus culture clash. International Journal of Eating Disorders 579-588. Croll, J., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M. & Ireland, M. (2002). Prevalence and risk and protective factors related to disordered eating behaviors among adolescents: Relationship to gender and ethnicity. Journal of Adolescent Health 16-17. Harris, D. J. [...]
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