Risk of Bulimia Slim Among Some Minority Women

CONTACT: Dr. Thomas Joiner(850) 644-1454; [email protected]

By Jill ElishMay 2002

THIN MAY BE IN, BUT IT'S NOT A PRIORITY FOR EVERYONEFSU Study Shows Risk of Bulimia Slim Among Some Minority Women

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-Minority women are at a lower risk for bulimia even if they are unhappy with their body size as long as they are not worried about adapting to mainstream American culture, according to a new Florida State University study.

However, minority women who feel a combination of body dissatisfaction and stress about fitting into the mainstream may be more vulnerable to symptoms of bulimia, said Thomas Joiner, the Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology at FSU, who co-wrote the study published in the May issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Joiner his doctoral students Marisol Perez, Zachary Voelz and Jeremy Pettit surveyed 118 black, Hispanic and white female college students to examine the effects of acculturative stress and body dissatisfaction. Perez was the study's lead author.

"The thing that is truly remarkable about the study is that it shows a subgroup of women whose body dissatisfaction is not associated with bulimia," Joiner said, explaining that typically there is a strong correlation between body dissatisfaction and bulimia. "Minority women may be protected as long as they are not actively acculturating."

Acculturating is the process of adapting to a new or dominant culture - in this case, mainstream America - and leaving behind the traditional values associated with a particular ethnic or racial group. One aspect of acculturation may be the adoption of an ideal body image, which American culture deems to be thin.

"For some minority women, while they may be unhappy with their bodies, being thin is just not that high on their list of values; in the dominant mainstream culture, the ideal body is high on the value list," Joiner said. "It just shows how powerful the protective quality associated with many minority groups - strong families and connections to a community - can be."

Bulimia, which is characterized by a cycle of bingeing and purging and a preoccupation with thinness, does not just affect white women, however. For minorities who dislike their bodies and feel stress about adapting to the mainstream, bulimia is more of a threat. Overall, the study found that Hispanics reported the highest levels of acculturative stress, followed by blacks and then whites.

The study may affect the way therapists view eating disorders, Joiner said, noting that women with symptoms of an eating disorder should be assessed regardless of their ethnicity. In addition to traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy, the study said black or Hispanic women who show eating disorder symptoms may benefit from a problem-solving approach designed to reduce stress they may feel as a minority in the workplace or in social settings.

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