Bridging gaps by including culture: Development and empirical test of the culturally informed theory for disordered eating among Black women

Abstract

Background: Leading eating disorder (ED) theories were informed primarily by samples of White females. Therefore, ED theories lack consideration of sociocultural factors that may impact ED symptom development among Black women. The current study proposed the first culturally informed theory for disordered eating among Black women, positing that ethnic discrimination, strong black woman (SBW) ideology (cultural and societal expectations of strength), and culturally informed appearance satisfaction may significantly impact stress. Stress may be associated with coping-motivated eating behaviors, which may lead to maladaptive weight control behaviors. Methods: Black women (N = 208) completed surveys assessing socio-cultural factors, stress, commensal and binge eating, and maladaptive weight control behaviors. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theory. Results: The final model had a good fit for the data. Findings overall supported the hypothesized model. Specifically, higher ethnic discrimination (β = 0.044, p =.003), greater endorsement of SBW ideology (β = 0.074, p =