Shame and eating disorders

Eating-disorder symptoms are associated both with negative emotionality in general and specific negative emotions, in particular chronic feelings of shame. Symptoms of eating disorders are also thought to be linked to problems with regulating emotions. A study of 154 undergraduates at Duke University in the U.S. looked at the relationship between shame, emotional regulation and eating disorder symptoms. The results showed that chronic shame predicted eating disorder symptoms over and above the general effects of negative emotions. Problems with emotional regulation were found to have an influence on the link between chronic shame and eating disorder symptoms; the worse people's emotional regulation the more their shame led on to eating disorder symptoms.

Gupta, Sumati ... [et al] - Emotion regulation skills mediate the effects of shame on eating disorder symptoms in women Eating Disorders October-December 2008, 16(5), 405-417