Understanding the relationships between body esteem, risk for anorexia nervosa, and domain-dependent decision-making impulsivity in a college sample

• We studied discounting behavior in college women as a proxy for impulsivity.
• Women varied in level of body esteem and risk for anorexia nervosa.
• Gaining/losing weight and improving/worsening complexion were discounting outcomes.
• Women with low body esteem display self-control in weight loss decisions.
• Self-control in this regard may be problematic, leading to pathological outcomes.

Impulsivity has been suggested to interact with low body esteem to elevate risk for anorexia nervosa. Discounting tasks are unique tools for examining impulsivity. Female college students (N = 139) at varying levels of body esteem and risk for anorexia nervosa responded to discounting scenarios depicting opportunities to lose/gain weight and to worsen/improve complexion. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between impulsivity and risk for anorexia nervosa and body esteem in four disorder-relevant decision-making contexts. Results indicated that lower decision-making impulsivity predicted lower body esteem levels when the outcome of the task was framed as an opportunity to lose weight. It is suggested that greater self-control regarding weight-loss in women with low body esteem may be problematic, placing them at higher risk for eating- and weight-related problems. Results reiterate the need for continued attention to fostering healthy body esteem and weight-control patterns in women on college campuses.