The Role of Perfectionism and It's Dimensions in Predicting Disordered Eating Behaviors Among Students

Researches related to perfectionism have tried to investigate the negative relationship between this variable and its’ dimensions with the various fields of physical and psychological hygiene and health. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of perfectionism and its’ dimensionsin predicting disordered eating behaviors among students. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 477 students of AllamehTabataba’i University who was selected by multiple cluster sampling. Participants responded to the questionnaires of demographic characteristics, perfectionism of Besharat (1382), disordered eating behaviors of Garneret al. (1982). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression. There were significant positive correlations between perfectionism and its’ dimensions (self-centered, other-centered, and community-centered) with disordered eating behaviors (p<0.01). In other words,when perfectionism increases, the degree of disordered eating behaviors among students also increases. Stepwise regression analysis also indicated that in the interaction between the dimensions of perfectionism, the community-centered perfectionism and other-centered perfectionism significantly predicted, respectively, 11% and 9% of the variance of disordered eating behaviors among student (p<0.05). The results of this study suggest the importance of perfectionism and its’ dimensions in predicting disordered eating behaviors.These factors can explain the high degree of variability of these behaviors.