Abnormal Psychology

Eating Disorders 461

10.7 • Feedback Loops in Action: Eating Disorders

Figure 10.7g7

NeuroPsychoSocial

Stressful Life Events

Family

Gender/Culture

NeuroPsychoSocial

Teasing or other negative

comments about body or

eating Familial focus

on food,

weight, and

appearance

Brain Systems

Neural Communication Genetics

Serotonin Inherited vulnerability

for an eating disorder

Sex difference in

prevalence attributed

to objectification

Western cultural ideal

of thinness,

propagated through

media exposure

Frontal lobes

Temporal lobes

Parietal lobes

Amygdala

Cingulate cortex

Basal ganglia

Cerebellum

With anorexia,

loss of gray and

white matter

Behavior

Affect

NeuroPsychoSocial

Anxiety

Depression

Mental Processes and

Mental Contents

Positive and

negative

reinforcement

of restricting,

bingeing, and

purging

Restrained

eating

Irrational thoughts

and excessive

concerns about

food, weight, and

appearance

Personality traits

of perfectionism,

harm avoidance,

neuroticism, and

low self-esteem