Exploring the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Bulimic Symptoms: Mediational Effects of Perfectionism Among Females

Previous findings indicate that social anxiety and bulimia co-occur at high rates; one mechanism that has been proposed to link these symptom clusters is perfectionism (Silgado et al. in Cogn Ther Res 34(5):487–492, 2010). We tested meditational models among 167 female undergraduates in which maladaptive evaluative perfectionism concerns (MEPC; i.e., critical self-evaluative perfectionism) mediated the relationship between social anxiety and bulimic symptoms. Results from a first model indicated that MEPC mediated the relationship between fear of public scrutiny and bulimia symptoms. This indirect effect was significant above and beyond the indirect effects of maladaptive body-image cognitions and perfectionism specific to pure personal standards. A second model was tested with MEPC mediating the relationship between social interaction anxiety and bulimia symptoms. Similar results were obtained; however, in this model, a significant direct effect remained after partialing out the indirect effect of the mediators. Theoretical implications are discussed.