Effects of Self-Esteem and Depression on Abnormal Eating Behavior among Korean Female College Students: Mediating Role of Body Dissatisfaction

Body dissatisfaction is widely acknowledged to exert considerable impact on abnormal eating behavior. Previous studies that reported the mediating role of body dissatisfaction between psychological variables and abnormal eating behavior mostly used western samples. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect association of psychological factors (i.e., self-esteem and depression) on abnormal eating behavior on a Korean sample. In addition, we examined a possible mediating effect of body dissatisfaction in this relationship. A sample of 502 Korean female college students enrolled in a private university participated in this cross-sectional study. Results indicated that self-esteem and depression did not have direct impacts on abnormal eating behavior. However, they did have indirect effects through the mediating factor, body dissatisfaction. Our findings suggest that students who have low self-esteem and high depression are likely to have higher levels of body dissatisfaction, and this, in turn, tends to be associated with greater abnormal eating behavior. Identification of this path has clinical implications in the development of programs to prevent abnormal eating behaviors among young female college students.