Sociotropy, autonomy, and bulimic symptomatology

Objective The cognitive‐behavioral model of bulimia nervosa suggests that maladaptive cognitions are associated with the development and maintenance of bulimia nervosa. This study was conducted to evaluate (a) the relation between bulimic symptomatology and the cognitive‐personality styles of sociotropy (reflecting themes of acceptance and approval) and autonomy (reflecting themes of independence and achievement), and (b) the specificity of the relation between these two cognitive‐personality styles and bulimic versus depressive symptoms. Method: 105 undergraduate women were administered self‐report measures of sociotropy and autonomy, as well as bulimic and depressive symptomatology. Results: Whereas both sociotropy and autonomy were related to bulimic symptomatology, only sociotropy was uniquely associated with symptoms of bulimia when controlling for the effects of depressive symptoms. Discussion: Themes of acceptance and approval may be important cognitive‐personality features of bulimia nervosa. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 23: 439–442, 1998.