Adding thin-ideal internalization and impulsiveness to the cognitive–behavioral model of bulimic symptoms

This study evaluated the cognitive–behavioral (CB) model of bulimia nervosa and an extension that included two additional maintaining factors — thin-ideal internalization and impulsiveness — in 327 undergraduate women. Participants completed measures of demographics, self-esteem, concern about shape and weight, dieting, bulimic symptoms, thin-ideal internalization, and impulsiveness. Both the original CB model and the extended model provided good fits to the data. Although structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the original CB model was most parsimonious, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the additional variables accounted for significantly more variance. Additional analyses showed that the model fit could be improved by adding a path from concern about shape and weight, and deleting the path from dieting, to bulimic symptoms. Expanding upon the factors considered in the model may better capture the scope of variables maintaining bulimic symptoms in young women with a range of severity of bulimic symptoms.

► Thin-ideal internalization and impulsiveness were added to the CB model of bulimia.
► The original and extended models both provided good fits to the data.
► The extended model accounted for significantly more variance in bulimic symptoms.
► Adding a path from shape/weight concern to bulimic symptoms improved model fit.