How Perfectionism and Eating Disorder Symptoms Contribute to Searching Weight-Loss Information on the Internet?

Background and

Objectives

Eating disorder (ED) symptoms are a growing problem and modern technologies introduced a new and unexplored potential risk factor for vulnerable individuals. It is fairly common for women to use the Internet in order to find information about various weight-loss methods, but it was further questioned whether perfectionism and eating disorder symptomatology could be linked to this behavior. Materials and

Methods

Participants were 228 women (Mean age = 30.5; SD = 9.43) recruited via social media, who provided responses on measures of perfectionism, eating disorder symptoms, and a short check-list measuring the frequency of online searching about five topics (food, diet, exercise, body appearance, and eating disorders).

Results

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that the BMI and Discrepancy subscale of APS-R significantly predicted online searching, along with eating disorder symptomatology. Moreover, mediation analyses resulted in a significant indirect effect, but not a direct effect, indicating that eating disorder symptomatology fully mediated the relationship between BMI and online searching, as well as between maladaptive perfectionism and online searching.

Conclusion

These findings shed light on a high BMI and maladaptive perfectionism as potential risk factors for eating disorder-related behavior on the Internet. More attention to online-seeking behavior among women symptomatic of ED is warranted, and websites containing such topics should include information about professional help for eating disorder-symptomatic individuals.