Health Championing of University Women Seeking Help from Eating Disorders

Le résumé fourni par la source

Eating disorders among university students can impede health and academic success.Social support may help improve symptoms.A mixed methods design was used to explore the meaning of social support in a non-clinical sample of female university students who selfidentified as having issues with food or eating.Quantitative responses from 142 students enrolled in three universities in Eastern Canada were examined for eating attitudes, coping ability, and social support behaviours.From this sample, a subset of 22 women completed qualitative semi-structured interviews.Narrative analysis confirmed that women lacking readily accessible social support were more likely to have a high level of concern about body weight or eating behaviours.A typology of support-seeking behaviours was constructed based on health championing, a proactive process for achieving health and well-being.While lack of health championing fostered the concealment of illness, recovery was enhanced when women's self-championing efforts were mirrored by support from connected others.This finding may inform the design of an appropriate support intervention.

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