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Examining the Relationship between Binge Eating and Coping Strategies and the Definition of Binge Eating in a Sample of Spanish Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Susana Sierra Baigrie  and
Serafín Lemos Giráldez
Susana Sierra Baigrie*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Oviedo
Serafín Lemos Giráldez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Oviedo
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Susana Sierra Baigrie, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Oviedo, Plaza Feijóo, s/n, 33003 Oviedo(Spain). E.mail: susisierrab@telecable.es
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Abstract

The present study had two major goals: to explore the relationship between binge eating and coping strategies in a sample of Spanish adolescents and to examine the adolescents' concept of binge eating. Two hundred and fifty-nine adolescents from a secondary school completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS; Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993) and the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh (BITE; Henderson & Freeman, 1987), as well as additional questions regarding the binge-eating episodes. The results show that the adolescents who reported binge eating used more avoidance coping strategies than those who did not engage in this behavior. Adolescents took into account mainly the amount of food eaten when defining a binge with few of them mentioning loss of control in their descriptions. The results of the study have implications for the prevention of this behavior. The development of constructive ways for solving daily problems and coping with stressors may be a possible prevention strategy for this behaviour in adolescence.

Este estudio tenía dos objetivos principales: explorar la relación entre los atracones de comida y las estrategias de afrontamiento en una muestra de adolescentes españoles y examinar el concepto que tienen los adolescentes de atracones. Una muestra de 259 adolescentes de una escuela secundaria rellenaron el ACS y el BITE, así como preguntas adicionales sobre los episodios de atracones. Los resultados muestran que los adolescentes que informaban del comportamiento de atracones empleaban más estrategias evitativas de afrontamiento que los que no realizaban este tipo de comportamiento. Al definir un atracón, los adolescentes consideraban principalmente la cantidad de comida consumida y pocos mencionaban la pérdida de control en sus descripciones. Los resultados del estudio tienen implicaciones para la prevención de este comportamiento. El desarrollo de formas constructivas para resolver los problemas cotidianos y afrontar los estresores puede ser una estrategia de prevención de este comportamiento en adolescentes.

Keywords

bingecoping strategiesavoidanceatracónestrategias afrontamientoevitación
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , May 2008 , pp. 172 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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