Pivarunas, Bernadette, authorCanetto, Silvia Sara, advisorGraham, Daniel, committee memberShomaker, Lauren B., committee member2015-08-272017-06-032015http://hdl.handle.net/10217/166895Zip file contains figures 1-2.Many U.S. women engage in some form of weight or shape management behaviors (WSMB) - including disordered eating or excessive exercise - in their lifetime. Disordered eating includes fasting, skipping meals, binge eating, purging/self-induced vomiting, and laxative or diuretic use (Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Larson, Eisenberg, & Loth, 2011; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, Frensch, & Rodin, 1989). Excessive exercise is defined as exercise characterized by greater amounts of time spent exercising and a sense of obligation to exercise. Exercise dependence occurs when the individual experiences psychological and/or physiological craving for physical activity (Hausenblas, & Symons Downs, 2002). Emerging adulthood, the period between 18 and 25 years of age, is a critical time for the onset or exacerbation of disordered eating and exercise dependence among women, especially women attending college (Compas, Wagner, Slavin, & Vannatta, 1986; Vohs, Heatherton, & Herrin, 2001). Many factors likely contribute to WSMB in young women, including sociocultural, family, peer and psychological factors. A major limitation of the literature on psychological factors associated with WSMB is that it has focused nearly exclusively on women of European-descent. Yet there are indications that WSMB may be a significant problem among women of Latina-descent. Building on past studies and considering the gaps in empirical knowledge, this study examined two psychological constructs potentially associated with WSMB in European- and Latina-descent college women. Specifically this study examined the associations between perfectionism and obsessive-compulsiveness and the WSMB of disordered eating and exercise dependence accounting for body dissatisfaction as a potential confounder of these associations. Five hundred two college women (87.5% European-descent, 12.5% Latina-descent) participated in the study. Multiple-group structural equation modeling examined whether the relations among latent constructs in the hypothesized model differed across ethnic groups. An unconstrained model, in which the paths were not constrained to be equal for the two ethnic groups, was a significantly better fit for the data. Perfectionism and obsessive-compulsiveness were positively associated with body dissatisfaction for European-descent women. However, only perfectionism was positively associated with body dissatisfaction for women of Latina-descent. Body dissatisfaction was not significantly associated, either positively or negatively, with disordered eating or exercise dependence for either ethnic group. For women of European-descent, perfectionism and obsessive-compulsiveness were positively associated with both disordered eating and exercise dependence. For Latina-descent women, obsessive-compulsiveness was positively associated with disordered eating and exercise dependence. The association between obsessive-compulsiveness and exercise dependence was moderated by ethnicity such that the association was more pronounced for Latina-descent women than for European-descent women. I conclude that while college women of European- and Latina-descent engage in similar rates of WSMB, the degree to which perfectionism and obsessive-compulsiveness may be associated with these behaviors may differ for the two groups. Longitudinal research is necessary to further investigate the issues raised in the present study.born digitalmasters thesesZIPDOCXengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.college womenexercise dependenceperfectionismdisordered eatingbody dissatisfactionobsessive-compulsivenessText