Examining impulsivity as a moderator of the relationship between body shame and bulimic symptoms in Black and White young women

• We utilized a sample of Black and White female undergraduates.
• Impulsivity was positively correlated with bulimic measures for Black participants.
• Impulsivity was only correlated with binge eating frequency for White participants.
• Impulsivity moderated the body shame/bulimic relations for Black participants.
• Impulsivity did not moderate any body shame/bulimic relation for White participants.

Impulsivity has been linked to bulimic symptomatology in a number of studies; however, few have examined this relationship among Black women. We investigated the correlations between impulsivity and bulimic symptoms, and tested impulsivity as a moderator of the body shame/bulimic symptoms relationship among a sample of female undergraduates (N = 276; 97 Blacks, 179 Whites). These participants provided data on body shame, impulsivity, and bulimic symptoms (EDE-Q binge eating frequency, BULIT-R, EDI-Bulimia). Among Blacks, impulsivity was significantly positively associated with all bulimic symptoms measures; among Whites, impulsivity was only positively correlated with binge eating frequency. Furthermore, among Blacks, the combination of high body shame and high impulsivity was associated with the highest levels of bulimic symptoms; these findings were not observed among Whites. This study highlights the importance of impulsivity and body shame in identifying bulimic symptomatology among Black women.