Bulimia and irrational beliefs

This study tested the hypothesis that depressed mood and rigid perfectionistic beliefs are common among bulimics. It also examined the relations between bulimia and degree of overweight. Female college students completed the Bulimia Test (BULIT), the Rational Beliefs Inventory (RBI), the Cognitive Bias Questionnaire (CBQ), which yields measures of depressive-distortions (DD) and depressive-nondistortions (DND) in cognition, and questions concerning their height and weight. The BULIT was significantly correlated with the RBI ( P = 0.002), the DND measure of the CBQ ( P = 0.008) and degree of overweight ( P < 0.0001). These findings indicate that people with high BULIT scores tend to have above average weights and rigid, perfectionistic beliefs. High BULIT scorers also tend to have cognitions which are depressive in nature, but not distorted.