Suchergebnisse

Childhood peer victimization (CPV) has been associated with clinical and subclinical forms of disordered eating behaviors (DEBs). However, less is known about the mechanisms involved in this association, especially in emerging adulthood. The present study examined the relationship between harmfulness of the CPV experiences, identity diffusion and DEBs using Structural Equation Modeling. Emphasis was given in the investigation of the indirect effect of CPV harmfulness on DEBs through identity diffusion. Data from 414 emerging adults was collected via an online questionnaire. The analysis indicated significant direct effects of CPV harmfulness on both restrictive and binge-eating. More importantly, findings supported the indirect relationship between CPV harmfulness and binge-eating through identity diffusion. Results provide preliminary support for the role of CPV harmfulness and identity diffusion as contributing factors in the development of DEBs in emerging adults. Implications for future research are discussed.

The impact of identity-related risk factors on psychopathology was analyzed in 2,113 emerging adults ( M = 22.0 years; 66% female) from France, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Peru, Pakistan, and Poland. Identity stress, coping with identity stress, maternal parenting (support, psychological control, and anxious rearing), and psychopathology (internalizing, externalizing, and total symptomatology) were assessed. After partialing out the influence of stress, coping, and perceived maternal behavior, country did no longer exert a significant effect on symptom scores. The effect for gender remained, as did an interaction between country and gender. Rather unexpected, on average, males reported higher internalizing symptomatology scores than females. Potential causes for the higher scores of males are therefore discussed. Partialing out covariates resulted in a clearer picture of country-specific and gender-dependent effects on psychopathology, which is helpful in designing interventions.