From: Uncontrollable behavior or mental illness? Exploring constructions of bulimia using Q methodology
Item | Factor | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | B | C | D | E | F | ||
1 | People with bulimia are distressed by their symptoms. | 2 | 2 | −1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Individuals with bulimia are victims of their disorder. | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | −1 | 1 |
3 | Bulimia is a disease that gets worse over time. | 4 | 0 | −2 | 1 | 3 | −1 |
4 | People with bulimia don’t know why they binge and purge. | 3 | −1 | −1 | −1 | 0 | 0 |
5 | For those with bulimia, food is a means of escape. | −3 | 2 | 3 | −1 | −1 | 2 |
6 | A person with bulimia attempts to improve their mood by eating. | −3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | Bulimia might start as a way for a person to express feelings they are afraid to deal with. | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
8 | People with bulimia are afraid of living without their condition. | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
9 | Binging and then purging might give a person with bulimia a sense of control. | −1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
10 | Many people with bulimia have experienced some sort of past trauma. | 0 | 1 | −1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
11 | Bulimia is getting to eat what you want and still stay thin. | −2 | −1 | −2 | −3 | 3 | 1 |
12 | Bulimia is something someone might try out after hearing about it e.g. on TV, social media, friends. | 2 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
13 | A person with bulimia could stop their behaviors if they really wanted to. | −4 | −4 | 2 | 0 | −1 | −3 |
14 | People with bulimia have failed to get anorexia. | −2 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −1 |
15 | Bulimia is a lifestyle choice. | −3 | −4 | −3 | 0 | −2 | 1 |
16 | People with bulimia want to recover. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 |
17 | In bulimia, binging and purging are ways of punishing yourself. | 1 | 4 | −1 | −1 | 2 | −1 |
18 | People with bulimia are success-orientated, seeking physical and mental control. | −2 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 | 1 |
19 | Dieting only develops into bulimia when a person has other predisposing characteristics. | 0 | −2 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
20 | Individuals with bulimia use food like addicts use drugs. | −1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | −2 | −2 |
21 | Binging is a sign of weakness in people with bulimia. | −2 | −1 | −1 | 0 | 0 | −2 |
22 | People with bulimia are obsessed with being thin. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
23 | People with bulimia are impulsive. | −1 | 1 | −2 | −1 | −3 | −1 |
24 | People with bulimia are self-centered. | −3 | −3 | −1 | −2 | 0 | −3 |
25 | Recovering from bulimia requires having self-control. | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
26 | Purging after eating a big or fattening meal is no big deal. | −1 | −3 | 0 | −4 | −4 | −1 |
27 | Bulimia is an understandable response in a society with lots of high calorie foods. | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | −2 | −3 |
28 | Bulimia is an extreme example of the weight and eating concerns that affect many women in our society. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
29 | Bulimia is very different from dieting and normal concerns about shape and weight. | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | −2 |
30 | Nobody really knows what normal eating, or a healthy relationship with food, is. | 2 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −3 | 3 |
31 | Society probably underestimates the number of men who have bulimia. | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
32 | Bulimia occurs because our whole society has an attitude that supports eating disorders. | −1 | −1 | 2 | −3 | 3 | 0 |
33 | Bulimia is more common in women because our culture puts more pressure on them to be thin. | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
34 | Bulimia is something to be ashamed of. | −1 | −2 | −4 | −3 | 0 | −4 |
35 | Bulimia is more socially acceptable than anorexia nervosa. | −4 | −2 | 0 | −1 | −3 | 3 |
36 | Bulimia is not that serious. | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −4 |
37 | People with bulimia trade health for looking good. | 1 | −1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 |
38 | Media portrayals of an ‘ideal’ body shape contribute to the occurrence of bulimia. | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
39 | Our society’s increased focus on physical appearance will likely lead to a rise in bulimia in men. | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | −1 | −2 |
40 | Bulimia is not just a women’s problem. | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
41 | Bulimia is biological in nature. | 0 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −3 |
42 | Bulimia is a mental illness. | 0 | 4 | −3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |