Implications for society if anorexia is a learned disorder

• it has been claimed that anorexia could be caused by images and cultural expectations such as 'size-zero' models. individuals may be influenced to develop the disorder because thinness is an expectation in todays society.
• AO1 - anorexia nervosa means nervous loss of appetite. symptoms include refusal to eat and maintain a minimum average body weight, fear of gaining weight of becoming fat, distorted perception of body weight and shape, and weight less than 85% of expected. 90% of cases are female between 13-18. DSM-IV states it occurs in 0.5-1% of females in adolescence and early childhood.
• 20% have one episode and recover completely, 60% follow an episodic pattern of weight gain and relapse over multiple years. remaining 20% continue to be affected and often require hospitalisation. mortality rates of those admitted to hospital is over 10% due to starvation or suicide.
• AO2.1 An learned through rewards from environment. Family members may help to perpetuate the disorder by praising a person’s slenderness and self-control ... reinforcing their behaviour. suggested that weight loss may provide a way of gaining acceptance from parents with high aspirations, of punishing parents or of avoiding responsibilities of growing up.
• AO2.2 Peer acceptance is particularly important during adolescence, so adolescents may be susceptible to peer influence on patterns of disordered eating. The mechanisms of reward and punishment in operant conditioning may also be relevant to the influence of peers.
• AO2.3 social learning theory could also explain how anorexia could be learned. anorexia is most prevalent in adolescent females who are most likely to read magazines, and take an interest in celebrity behaviour. if young girls constantly see unrealistic images of beauty in their role models, this makes them likely to imitate their behaviour, using whatever methods possible to lose weight.
• AO2.4 vicarious reinforcement is another important factor here. when adolescents see their female role models being rewarded with fame and money for maintaining an idealised body image, they are even more likely to imitate their behaviour. this theory would suggest that social influences on eating disorders are crucially important.