Term of Award

Spring 2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Ryan Couillou

Committee Member 1

Jeff Klibert

Committee Member 2

Brandon Weiss

Abstract

A clear relationship exists between a history of sexual victimization and disordered eating behaviors characteristic of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Additionally, college students and more specifically, members of Greek organizations are at an increased risk of experiencing sexual victimization and developing disordered eating behaviors. However, there is a lack of research on the effect of Greek membership on the development of different types of disordered eating behaviors following sexual assault. Additionally, research has neglected to address novel disordered eating patterns, such as those characteristic of orthorexia nervosa, and the presence of these patterns following sexual assault. To examine these concerns, 496 fulltime undergraduate students at a large, rural southeastern university were asked to complete a demographic form reporting Greek membership and rurality status, as well as several self-report measures examining experiences of sexual victimization and disordered eating behaviors. Results indicate sexual victimization was positively related to symptoms of orthorexia nervosa and symptoms of disordered eating overall (i.e., symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder). Symptoms of orthorexia nervosa and symptoms of disordered eating were also positively related. Contrary to expectations, Greek membership was not associated with overall disordered eating behaviors and symptoms of orthorexia. Greek membership was also unrelated to sexual victimization. Furthermore, Greek membership did not moderate the relationship between sexual assault victim status and disordered eating behaviors. Finally, hometown rurality status did not moderate the relationship between sexual assault victim status and disordered eating behaviors.

INDEX WORDS: Sexual victimization, Sorority, Fraternity, Disordered eating, Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, Binge-eating disorder, Orthorexia nervosa, Rural

OCLC Number

1366107128

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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