White public regard: associations among eating disorder symptomatology, guilt, and White guilt in young adult women

Janet A Lydecker; Rebecca R Hubbard; Carrie B Tully; Shawn O Utsey; Suzanne E Mazzeo

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.10.007

White public regard: associations among eating disorder symptomatology, guilt, and White guilt in young adult women

Eat Behav. 2014 Jan;15(1):76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.10.007. Epub 2013 Oct 23.

Authors

Janet A Lydecker¹, Rebecca R Hubbard², Carrie B Tully², Shawn O Utsey³, Suzanne E Mazzeo⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States. Electronic address: lydeckerja@vcu.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States.
³ Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States; Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States; Department of Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, United States.

PMID: 24411755
DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.10.007

Abstract

Objective: As a novel investigation of the role of White racial identity, the current study explored the link between White guilt and disordered eating.

Participants: Young adult women (N=375), 200 of whom self-identified as White.

Methods: Measures assessed disordered eating, trait guilt, White guilt, and affect.

Results: White guilt is interrelated with disordered eating, particularly bulimic symptomatology. Distress tolerance and tendency to experience negative affect moderated the relation between White guilt and several disordered eating variables.

Conclusions: Exploration of White guilt in clinical and research settings can inform understanding and treatment of disordered eating.

Keywords: Eating disorder; Ethnicity; Guilt; Public regard; Race; White guilt.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Black or African American / psychology
Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
Feeding and Eating Disorders / ethnology*
Feeding and Eating Disorders / psychology*
Female
Guilt*
Humans
Risk Factors
Social Identification*
White People / psychology*
White People / statistics & numerical data
Young Adult