Advisory Committee Chair
Hal Thurstin
Advisory Committee Members
Mary Bartlett
Sylvie Mrug
David Schwebel Schwebel
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2013
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Suicide is a leading cause of death in persons diagnosed with an eating disorder. Religious factors have been demonstrated to be protective against many negative outcomes, including suicidality. Research has demonstrated that religious factors may be important in both the development and treatment of an eating disorder. The present study examines whether religiosity, spirituality, positive and negative religious coping style are protective against suicidal ideation and retrospective report of suicide attempts. The study included 91 mostly White, female participants from a residential treatment center for eating disorders. Participants were diagnosed with either anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between predictors and suicidal ideation. Zero-inflated Poisson regression was used to assess the relationship between predictors and suicide attempts. Depressive symptoms were a significant predictor in all models. There were no significant results for religious factors in predicting suicidal ideation. Results demonstrated that low religiosity is associated with a high frequency of attempts in women diagnosed with AN. High positive and negative religious coping predicted high frequency of attempts in women with AN. Therefore, religious factors are more relevant in predicting suicide attempts in women with AN. Results, limitations, future directions and treatment implications are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Goodwin, Natalie, "Suicide And Eating Disorders: The Role Of Religiosity, Spirituality And Religious Coping Style" (2013). All ETDs from UAB. 1765.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/1765