Psychology
Social Learning Theory Anorexia
Social Learning Theory of Anorexia posits that individuals learn disordered eating behaviors through observation, imitation, and reinforcement within their social environment. This theory suggests that societal pressures, media influence, and family dynamics play a significant role in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa. It emphasizes the impact of social interactions and cultural factors on the development of eating disorders.
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8 Key excerpts on "Social Learning Theory Anorexia"
eBook - PDF- Olivia Saracho, Bernard Spodek(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Information Age Publishing(Publisher)
Moreover, there are indications that structured mealtime is a valuable component in adopting regular eating habits and preventing eating disor-ders. When the family environment lacks control, adolescent girls are at higher risk to develop bulimia, hypothesized to be related to the lack of adequate control and self-regulation learned from the family (Agras, Hammer, & McNicholas, 1997). The Use of Reinforcement Techniques The social learning theory also emphasizes that a person must value the outcomes or consequences that he or she believes will occur as a result of per-forming a specific behavior or action. These expected outcomes are shaped by reinforcements. Positive reinforcements include consequences and rewards increase the chances that behaviors will be repeated. Negative reinforcements including punishment and lack of response, also affect learning. Most behaviors, including eating and physical activity, are learned and maintained under fairly complex schedules of reinforcement and anticipated future rewards. Some are internal (satiety, comfort, health sta- Social Learning and Weight-Related Problems 255 tus, looking and feeling better) and some are external (receiving praise and encouragement). The person’s positive expectations for performing the behavior must outweigh the negative expectations. The social environment often offers sweets, chocolate, and high fat foods in a positive connotation or as a reward; for example, they are given to those we like on special occasions or to say thank you. In this way, the consumption of already pleasurable items is reinforced. If children are given foods as rewards for approved behavior, the preference for those foods is enhanced (Birch, 1980).
eBook - ePubEating Disorders in a Capitalist World
Super Woman or a Super Failure?
- Jelena Balabanić Mavrović(Author)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Emerald Publishing Limited(Publisher)
Chapter 4 Socio-Cultural Theories of the Development of Eating Disorders (Anorexia and Bulimia) Modern theories on eating disorders cannot exclude the influence of the environment on the formation of attitudes about one's body. Society, the media, one's peers and parents directly and indirectly influence how we see ourselves. The most famous models of socio-cultural theories of eating disorders are: the Tripartite Model (Thompson et al., 1999), the Dual Pathway Model (Stice, 1996) and Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). We shall briefly discuss them below. The Tripartite Model was developed by Thompson and his colleagues in an effort to establish what external factors influence body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Thompson et al. (1999) proved that the pressure to be thin coming from peers, parents and the media can create a negative body image. Comments and teasing by peers and parents about body weight, appearance, clothing or eating can contribute to the internalisation of a thin appearance as a desirable ideal in a young individual and encourage comparison with images from the media or with their peers, which is regularly detrimental to the young individual. The psychological functioning of young people is thus not only impaired by bulimic symptoms, but also with the development of depression, anxiety or low self-esteem (Thompson et al., 1999). Another approach to studying the influence of the environment on the development of disordered eating is Stice's Dual Pathway Model (1994). Built on an earlier socio-cultural model (Striegel-Moore et al., 1986), it takes into account various messages coming from peers, the family, and the media which propagate the thin ideal (Ferguson, 2013), the importance of good looks for women, and the importance of looks for social success (Stice, 1994, 2001)
eBook - PDF- Janet Treasure, Ulrike Schmidt, Eric van Furth(Authors)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
New York: Marcel Dekker. Wolff, G. & Serpell, L. (1998) A cognitive model and treatment strategies for anorexia nervosa. In H.W. Hoek, J.L. Treasure & M.A. Katzman (Eds), Neurobiology in the Treatment of Eating Disorders. Wiley series on Clinical and Neurobiological Advances in Psychiatry. Chichester John Wiley & Sons. Wolpe, J. (1958) Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Wolpe, J. (1993) The cognitivist oversell and comments on symposium contributions. Journal of Behavior Therapy Experimental Psychiatry, 24, 141–147. Wooley, S.C., Wooley, O.W. & Dyrenforth, S.R. (1979) Theoretical, practical and social issues in behavioral treatment of obesity. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12, 3–25. CHAPTER 8 Sociocultural Theories of Eating Disorders: An Evolution in Thought Mervat Nasser Department of Psychiatry, Thomas Guy House, London, UK and Melanie Katzman 29 West, 88th Street, New York, USA In this chapter we trace the evolution of cultural explanations for disordered eating. Beginning with the individual’s interface with the environment and traditional psycho- dynamic forces, we work through gender-focused and western-oriented explanations until we conclude with global changes, the role of technology and even some theorising about prevention. Table 8.1 at the end of this chapter provides a visual map of this journey. EATING PATHOLOGY: THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE ENVIRONMENT Self-starvation: The Psychological Predicament The embodiment of the psyche in human form and the dialectic of this body with its envi- ronment has been central to all causal theories of eating disorders long before the study of sociocultural influences became the vogue. In fact early psychodynamic descriptions of the anorexic syndrome did not ignore the importance of placing the phenomenon within the con- text of the individual’s environment.
eBook - PDFHunger for Understanding
A Workbook for helping young people to understand and overcome anorexia nervosa
- Alison Eivors, Sophie Nesbitt(Authors)
- 2005(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
However, despite the amount of time and energy devoted to this subject, many have faulty beliefs and assumptions about food, weight and shape that can main- tain extreme dieting behaviour. The key issues covered through psycho-education in anorexia nervosa have been incorporated into the Hunger for Understanding workbook. They are as follows. The psychological symptoms of starvation Frequently, anorectic patients misinterpret their preoccupation with food, fluctuating moods, urges to binge, cognitive impairment and social with- drawal as secondary to their attempts to control their weight (Garner et al., 1997). It is useful for the therapist to re-attribute them to dieting and/or star- vation as this can relieve some of the guilt and shame that the patient often attributes to an individual flaw. The cultural context of eating disorders Environments have a powerful influence in predisposing some young people to dieting and subsequent eating disorders. Frequently, these powerful mes- sages (from a variety of sources, e.g. the media, peers, family) are readily assimilated into the young person’s belief system and are accepted as ‘truths’, for example, you have to be less than x pounds in order to be successful. Understanding, recognising and challenging the insidious impact of these messages are extremely helpful for young people. Set-point theory Studies indicate that body weight is regulated to maintain a stable weight and resist losing or increasing weight (Keesey, 1993). When the body loses or increases weight, the metabolism adjusts to ensure that the body returns to its stable point. The Keys et al. (1950) study challenges the popular notion that weight is easily altered if people possess the necessary ‘will power’ and also demonstrates the enormous cognitive, physical and emotional impact of starvation. HUNGER FOR UNDERSTANDING 12
- Philip Graham, Shirley Reynolds(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
The typical behaviours associated with eating disorders, such as exercise, vomiting and using laxatives, serve as negative reinforcement to the removal of the aversive stimulus of fear of fatness (Garner & Bemis, 1982). Slade (1982) suggested that a need for control is central to the development and maintenance of AN, and is manifested in dieting. The disorder is then perpetuated by the positive reinforcement the sufferer gets from succeeding in dieting, and the negative reinforcement gained through fear of weight gain and avoidance of other difficulties. This results in an intensification of the dieting coupled with further weight loss, which serves to maintain the disorder. Fairburn et al. (1999) proposed a cognitive behavioural theory of the maintenance of anorexia nervosa, which suggests that a need for control is at the core of the disorder, but that the influence of concerns about weight and shape is an important maintaining factor. This maintenance model proposes that attempts to restrict eating are reinforced through three main feedback mechanisms with the result that the disorder becomes self-perpetuating. First, dietary restriction enhances the sense of being in control, i.e. success in restricting food intake positively reinforces the sufferer’s sense of being in control. Then aspects of starvation encourage further dietary restriction, i.e. physiological and psychological changes can pro- mote further dietary restriction by undermining the sufferer’s sense of being in control. 205 Chapter 14: Eating disorders For example, increased feelings of hunger due to insufficient food intake may be perceived as a threat to the sufferer’s control over eating (Fairburn et al., 1999). Third, extreme concerns about weight and shape encourage dietary restriction, particularly in cultures where it is common for people to judge their self-worth in terms of weight and shape. This process is culturally specific and prominent in most cases seen in Western societies.
eBook - PDF- Julie Hepworth(Author)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
The influence of Freud's nineteenth century work on hysteria, which had been crucial to the con-tinued documentation of anorexia nervosa as a nervous disorder, was fundamental to some interpretations. The analysis of family dynamics and psychosexual development was of particular importance to research on anorexia nervosa during the 1960s and 1970s. However, the use of psycho-analytic theory in social analysis continued to individualize the nature of anorexia nervosa rather than comprehensively analyse social aspects. Social explanations during this period did not significantly reconceptualize the aetiology of anorexia nervosa; rather, social dimensions became accepted as 'influences' or 'factors' in psychopathology and subsumed within psychi-atric discourse. The reluctance to seriously support social approaches are related to epistemological differences within the human sciences and to the historical absence of a social theorization of the relationships between social and cul-tural practices and individual psychology. However, there is no longer an absence of the articulation of social contexts, their relationship to psychol-ogy and anorexia nervosa, with explanations drawing on constructivist and social constructionist philosophical movements in psychology (cf. Hep-worth, 1994; Hepworth and Griffin, 1990, 1995; White and Epston, 1990). These disciplinary differences continue based on contests over the rigour of explanatory models of psychology. Yet, many social analyses of anorexia nervosa are underpinned by its status as a psychiatric category thus creating a reductionist framework of explanation. This interpretation limits the possibilities to articulate social and cultural aspects by collapsing the com-plexity and diversity of social practices into pre-existing explanatory frame-works.
eBook - PDF- Eric Mash, Eric Mash, David Wolfe, Katherine Nguyen Williams(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
She linked this struggle most closely to parental failure to recognize and confirm their child’s emerging independent needs. This sets in motion further confusion that can lead to the principal symptoms of anorexia: disturbance in body image, the inability to recognize and respond to internal sensations or emotions, and the all-pervasive feelings of ineffectiveness and loss of self-control. Her early work set the stage for the cognitive–behavioral interventions used today. She proposed gradual but deliberate relabeling of misconceptions and errors in thinking resulting from faulty developmental experi- ences and encouraged patients to learn healthy ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings in a genuine and more direct fashion (Silverman, 1997). Arthur Crisp, another pioneer in the understanding and treatment of eating disorders, considers anorexia to be a type of phobic avoidance disorder, in which the phobic objects are the average adult body weight and shape. He describes this phobia or fear metaphori- cally as a flight from growth (Crisp, 1997). A young female may begin to perceive herself as being fat as she reaches puberty and starts to change into a more adult size and weight, as a result of family and cul- tural influences. In response, she tries to pursue and maintain her prepubertal weight as a way to avoid the unwelcome aspects of her own growth. This pursuit becomes a vicious cycle, of course, because trying to maintain one’s prepubertal body weight meets power- ful biological resistance, so she continues her pursuit of weight loss as “insurance” against these unrelent- ing forces of nature. In effect, a person with anorexia fears loss of control over her attempts to avoid growth, which often translates into a fear of weighing above 95 to 100 pounds. Like Hilda Bruch’s insights, this expla- nation has led to important treatment efforts.
eBook - PDF- Hubertus Himmerich(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- IntechOpen(Publisher)
These characteristics combine with other risk factors and increase an individual’s vulnerability to the illness [14, 15]. In addition to personality characteristics, combinations of experiences and events lead to the creation of various distorted cognitions, creating vulnerability in an indi-vidual for developing anorexia, for example beliefs about the importance of thin-ness and the need to feel in control, or a cognitive bias towards food, eating, weight or body shape information processing. Fairburn et al.’s [16] cognitive behavioural theory focuses on the need for control as a central feature of anorexia and suggests that a combination of existing feelings of ineffectiveness, perfectionistic tendencies and low self-esteem underpin this need for control. Other predisposing cognitive factors for anorexia include difficulties switching between tasks (set shifting) and a preference for ‘detail-focused’ thinking rather than ‘bigger picture’ thinking (poor central coherence) [9]. Biological models highlight a number of genetic predisposi-tions and neurobiological factors involved in the development of anorexia [14], such as malfunctions of particular neurotransmitters that may increase risk of anorexia by altering appetite regulation and increasing locomotor activity levels, or specific inherited genes that may be responsible for altered mechanisms involved in energy metabolism or appetite and feeding regulation. For a full review see [17]. Sociocultural influences might also predispose an individual to anorexia, for example insecure attachment types as a child or stressful or traumatic life events can result in interpersonal issues and emotional avoidance, common in those with anorexia [14, 18, 19].
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