Abstract

QUILES MARCOS, Yolanda; TEROL CANTERO, M.ª Carmen  and  MARZO CAMPOS, Juan Carlos. Illness Representation, Coping and Adjustment in Eating Disorders. Clínica y Salud [online]. 2009, vol.20, n.2, pp.159-175. ISSN 2174-0550.

Introduction: Using Leventhal’s Common Sense Model, this paper describes the representation of illness in patients with eating disorders (ED), along with its relationship with coping and adjustment Method: Participants were 98 female eating disorder patients. Mean age was 20.8 (SD=5.61). In order to measure illness representation, the subjects completed the Spanish version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Results: The most frequently experienced symptoms (identity) were "weight loss" (89.8%) and "irregularities in menstruation" (81.6%). ED patients perceived their illness as controllable, treatable, and as a chronic condition with serious consequences. Illness representation variables explained 21% of the variance of avoidance strategy. Results demonstrated that coping did not mediate the link between representation and adjustment. Conclusions: Findings indicate that illness representations of ED patients can have significant implications for their adjustment.

Keywords : illness representation; eating disorders; coping; adjustment; survey descriptive Study.

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