Life experiences, coping, and weight preoccupation in young adult women

Relationships among stress, three different styles of coping, and weight preoccupation were investigated in a sample (N = 206) of young adult women. The relationships among these variables were examined using the Life Experiences Survey (LES: Sarason, Johnson, & Siegel, 1978), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS: Endler & Parker, 1999), and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI: Garner & Olmsted, 1984). A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine whether coping styles and life stress would predict weight preoccupation in this nonclinical sample of university women. Results indicated that emotion-oriented coping predicted weight preoccupation regardless of stress. These findings suggest that how one copes with stress is associated with weight preoccupation.