Sociocultural attitudes and symptoms of bulimia: Evaluating the SATAQ with diverse college groups

This study evaluated the utility of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ; L. J. Heinberg, J. K. Thompson, & S. Stormer, 1995) for the assessment of diverse college groups, including men, women, minorities, and sorority members. Scores from the SATAQ were compared with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2; D. M. Garner, 1991) for a sample of 405 college students at a large midwestern university. Significant group differences were observed on the scales assessing awareness of sociocultural pressures to be thin and internalization of these attitudes. These scores were highest among the Caucasian women, Caucasian sorority, and Hispanic sorority groups. However, construct validity was only demonstrated for the Internalization scale and was strongest for the Caucasian women, suggesting Oat sociocultural awareness may hold unique meaning for diverse groups. The need for the development of more specific measures assessing sociocultural pressures, internalization, and the implications for counseling psychologists is discussed.