Causes of Eating Disorders

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the direct and indirect causes of eating disorders, with particular emphasis on the relationship between the mass media and eating disorders. The researcher hypothesizes that the mass media has a direct effect on eating disorders, contributing to more frequent and severe eating disorders among all age groups, populations' subtypes and genders. The paper explores the issue and concludes that people are increasingly internalizing images presented in the media. The paper contends that the media should be held directly accountable for increases in eating disordered behavior among all populations.

Outline:
Overview Eating Disorders
Psychopathology of Eating Disorders
Media's Influence on Eating Disorders
Social Agents Responsible for Eating Disorders
Summary of Research on Eating Disorders
Conclusions/Recommendations

From the Paper:

"Eating disorders generally refer to a range of disordered patterns associated with eating. Eating disorders generally encompass a wide range of activities and diseases including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and obesity (Levine, Smolak & Striegel-Moore, 1996). Theorists and psychologists have long researched the subject of eating disorders in an attempt to discern the direct and indirect causes of eating disorders among all populations, including children, adolescents, teens and adults."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed). Washington: APA.
• Calogero, R.M., Davis, W.N. & Thompson, K. (2005). "The role of self-objectification in the experience of women with eating disorders." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 52(1-2): 43.
• Kudanis, R.M. (2003). Children, teens, families and mass media: The millennial generation. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Levine, M.P., Smolak, L. & Striegel-Moore, R. (1996). The developmental psychopathology of eating disorders: Implications for research, prevention and treatment. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Pierce, J.P., Gilpin, E., Burns, D.M., Whalen, E., Rosbrook, B., Shopland, D. & Johnson, M. (1991). "Does tobacco advertising target young people to start smoking?" Journal of the American Medical Association, 266(1): 3154-58.

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