EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT SELF-ESTEEM AMONG WOMEN SUFFERING FROM EATING DISORDERS
The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the relationship between explicit self-esteem, implicit self-esteem, body esteem and eating attitudes. It compares 58 adult women suffering from eating disorders (ED) to 54 women presenting an anxiety disorder and 96 women from a control group on these variables. The ED group presents more dysfunctional eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction as well as lower explicit and implicit self-esteem than the other groups. Among ED, although explicit self-esteem is the best predictor of eating attitudes and body esteem, implicit self-esteem contributes significantly in the explanation of many subscales. These results indicate the importance of further studies on the subject.