Perfectionistic Automatic Thoughts, Trait Perfectionism, and Bulimic Automatic Thoughts in Young Women

The current research examined the associations among perfectionistic automatic thoughts, trait perfectionism, negative automatic
thoughts, and bulimic automatic thoughts. A non-clinical sample of 94 undergraduate women completed the Perfectionism Cognitions
Inventory, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Bulimic Automatic Thoughts
Test. Correlational tests revealed that two automatic thoughts measures (perfectionistic automatic thoughts and negative automatic
thoughts) and two trait perfectionism measures (self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism) were associated significantly
with bulimic automatic thoughts with the strongest association being between perfectionistic automatic thoughts and bulimic
automatic thoughts. Regression analyses showed that perfectionistic thoughts predicted unique variance in bulimic thoughts
beyond variance attributable to trait perfectionism and negative automatic thoughts. The findings are discussed in terms of
the need to incorporate an explicit focus on perfectionistic automatic thoughts into treatment interventions and conceptual
models of perfectionism and eating disorders.