Citation

Marco JH, Cañabate M, Pérez S, Llorca G. J. Clin. Psychol. (Hoboken) 2017; 73(12): 1768-1781.

Affiliation

Universitat Jaume I.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jclp.22481

PMID

28419452

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to (a) analyze whether participants with eating disorders have lower meaning in life than the nonclinical population; (b) discover whether participants with eating disorders with low meaning in life have more body image disturbances, more psychopathology, and higher suicide ideation than participants with high meaning in life; (c) analyze whether meaning in life is associated with eating disorder psychopathology; and (d) analyze whether meaning in life is able to predict eating disorder psychopathology and suicide ideation, when body image is controlled.

METHOD: The clinical sample comprised 247 Spanish participants diagnosed with eating disorders, and the nonclinical sample comprised Spanish 227 participants.

RESULTS: Participants with eating disorders had lower meaning in life than the nonclinical population. Patients with low meaning in life had higher psychopathology and suicide ideation than participants with high meaning in life. Meaning in life was a significant predictor of the eating disorder psychopathology and suicide ideation.

CONCLUSION: Low meaning in life is associated with eating disorder psychopathology in a Spanish sample with eating disorders.

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

anorexia nervosa; body image; bulimia nervosa; eating disorders; meaning in life