occurs for those who are overweight or perceive themselves to be such. Thus, Attie and Brooks-Gun found that dieting emerged as the female body developed, and that is was a function of the body image transformation occurring at puberty. (Attie and Brooks-Gun, p.71) Aside from the pubertal changes that the authors found significant in this issue, family relationships were also detected to influence the emergence of eating disorders. Families that set high standards for achievement, gave little support for autonomy, and blurred interpersonal boundaries left adolescent girls with deficits in their self-esteem. (Attie and Brooks-Gun, p.71) Once again, as mentioned earlier, it makes sense in a very complex way that young girls who have been abused in this way end up "controlling" things that are ultimately not good for them. For instance, a young girl who was made to feel powerless in some ways in her family (i.e. sexual or physical abuse) may end up feeling a sense of individual identity if she can "control", for example, when she vomits and when she does not. Now, at least, she can have control over something in her life. Personality factors were also found to contribute to the development of eating disorders. Characteristics such as perfectionist strivings, feelings of ineffectiveness, depressive symptoms and self-regulatory deficits were seen frequently in patients with eating disorders. (Attie and Brooks-Gun, p.71) The authors found, for instance, that girls who early in adolescence felt most negatively about their bodies were more likely to develop eating problems two years later. (Attie and Brooks-Gun, p.76). Thus, overall, Atti...
