Perfectionism in women with binge eating disorder.

Objective: This study examined self-oriented (SOP), socially prescribed (SPP), and other-oriented (OOP) perfectionism in 127 obese women with binge eating disorder (BED).

Method: Relationships between eating disorder and general psychopathology variables and SOP, SPP, and OOP were assessed. Levels of SOP, SPP, and OOP in the BED sample were compared with those of 32 normal weight women with bulimia nervosa (BN) and 60 obese non-eating-disordered individuals (NED). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test models of the maintenance of BED.

Results: Only SPP was significantly associated with eating disorder variables related to BED. All three groups demonstrated similar levels of SPP and OOP. BN and BED groups scored significantly higher than the NED group on SOP only. SEM resulted in two models with good fits.

Discussion: Further research is needed on the roles of SPP and SOP in BED and on weight and shape overconcern in BED maintenance models.