Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pro-ana'

Pro-anorexia (or pro-ana) is an intertnet-based eating disorder (EiD) movement committed to supporting and encouraging or advising those who wish to initiate or maintain (Gavin et al. 2008) an ED, i.e. those who are not yet ready to recover (Dias 2003). The aim of this thesis is to explore interdiscursivity (ID) in pro-ana discourse, showing how members of the pro-ana community draw on the discourse of Evangelical Christianity in their online interactions. The analysis examines two bodies of data. The main focus is on the data taken from a proana website, comprising 219 message threads collected over a period of 47 days from a proana message board. The data taken from the discussion fora of several Christian websites serves as the evidence base, or empirical defence, for the study. By drawing on discursive psychology (DP) and the concept of ID, the analysis considers the way in which pro-ana site users display a marked orientation to each of the main aspects, or components, of Evangelical Christian discourse in their interactions on the website. Part of the thesis is also dedicated to reviewing current research in ID and explaining the rationale behind the use of both ID and c)'P. The primary analytical focus is on the construction of Ana as god(dess), and so the first empirical chapter considers orientations in the data to the notions of committing to Ana, following Ana and failing Ana with respect to the ways Christians orient to their relationship with God. It examines the construction of Ana's voice, and it deals with the contradictory depiction of Ana as both a loving and a cruel god(dess), drawing parallels with the orientation to the voice of God in the Christian discourse, and the construction of the Old Testament God of wrath and the New Testament God of love. It also accounts for potentially competing constructions of Ana, noting their place in the data and the impact they have on the construction of Ana the deity. The secondary analytical focus is on the construction of all the other religious components in the discourse, and so the second empirical chapter considers how speakers construct food as the devil, hunger or craving as temptation, and eating as sinning. It also explores the speakers' orientation to fat as punishment (or the wages of sin), and to cutting/selfharming, exercising, fasting and purging as penance (or atonement) for sin.

Following study is about the anorexic behavior and the pro-ana movement, which is a web-based subculture where the followers of this, stands for anorexia as an identity position and lifestyle, rather than a disease. The purpose of this study was that, from a sociological perspective give possible interpretations of the anorexic behavior, and interpret why some anorexics choose to be a part of and identify oneself with the pro-ana movement. The reason has been to conduce more knowledge and understanding of the topics, but also to contribute with a deeper perspective and sociological approach to the former research that is already available. To conduct the study, qualitative research has been used, and the chosen methodology was document analysis/text analysis. The collected empirical data consisted material from two pro-ana forums, four blogs and six twitter accounts, where all the users of those claimed to be supporters of the pro-ana. The empirical data has been interpreted by Howard S. Becker's theory of deviance, Erving Goffman's theory of stigma and his dramaturgical theory. In addition, previous research has also been used as a support. The study has shown that anorexics by being stigmatized for their deviant behavior may take different consequences for their actions. These are in the form of social isolation, concealment of behavior and resistance from the rest of society etcetera. Furthermore, the study also revealed that the major reason that anorectics choose to be a part of the pro-ana is because they are in need of interaction with likeminded people. Through membership the anorectics may get the status and attention they need, and at the same time take part of a community where they are not questioned, but rather perceived as fully normal.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.
Cynthia Hoffner, committee chair; Jaye Atkinson, Mary Ann Romski, committee members. Electronic text (90 p.) : digital, PDF file. Title from file title page. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 14, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-74).

Individualiseringen som det postmoderna samhället resulterat i, har försatt individer i en otrygghet där dessa tvingats anamma strategier för att hantera det ökade ansvar som individualiseringen inneburit. Dessa strategier ämnar att ge mening genom att vara verktyg i människors identitetsskapande som därigenom minskar otryggheten. Strategierna förekommer i olika kulturer som föreskriver meningsskapande förhållningssätt. Medlemskapet av gemenskaper är individens egna aktiva val. Identitetsskapandets kärna sker i samvaron med andra individer. Denna samvaro har för många unga förflyttats till Internet där nya former av identitetsskapande möjliggörs. Dessa är lika verkliga som den fysiska världens identitetskonstruktioner. Unga personer söker sig till Internet för att finna strategier till att lindra otryggheten som det postmoderna samhället och dess utseendekultur skapat. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka om den internetbaserade subkulturen kring ätstörningar var en form av ungdomars och unga vuxnas identitetsskapande. Uppsatsen belyser även skolkuratorers roll i arbetet med ätstörningsproblematik inom skolan. Uppsatsen har utgått från en abduktiv ansats där en innehållsanalys av 15 svenska bloggar skrivna av ungdomar och unga vuxna genomförts. 18 skolkuratorer har även responderat i en enkätundersökning med fokus på ämnet utifrån den professionella rollen. De teoretiska perspektiv som uppsatsen utgått från var socialkonstruktivism och Zygmunt Baumans teori om identitetsskapande. Uppsatsens studier visade att subkulturen var ett instrument för identitetsskapande hos svenska ungdomar och unga vuxna. Den pro-anorektiska identiteten sammanföll inte med den fysiska världens normer och gav inga trygga kontakter vilket försatte individerna i en ambivalens där otryggheten åter uppstod. Majoriteten av skolkuratorerna hade kännedom om subkulturen kring ätstörningar, men få uppgav konkreta arbetsrutiner med hanterandet av ätstörningsproblematik i skolan. Detta betraktas som ett viktigt förändringsarbete inom socialt arbete då professionen arbetar med unga individer som riskerar att utveckla ett ohälsosamt beteende med grund i subkulturens ideal.

This is a qualitative study which purpose is to examine the experiences of the recovery process after a treatment for eating disorders.                                                          The questions we have decided to examine are; how did the women adapt to a healthier life after treatment, what are the women's perceived experiences of the aspects related to identity and identity work, and what external social influence was seen as important for their adjustment process to a healthier life? Methods: We have used computer-supported and semi-structured interviews. There were a total of nine women who took part in the study.                                                                                                                     Results: Majority of these women have been recovered from their eating disorders, but some still have major or minor problems. They found it rather difficult to adjust their life's without an eating disorder. Conclusions: Increased self-awarness led to greater control over the eating disorder. The women could begin to confer the new features that they identified with. The social network is described as having been a major factor in the recovery process.

Eating disorders are now considered an epidemic among girls and women throughout the United States. This thesis suggests a study in which the acts and processes of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are positioned as a form of cultural labor undertaken by some Western women in order to embody the myth of the ideal female body. The researcher uses her own lived experience of anorexia and bulimia and her pursuit of embodying femininity in order to raise and guide the major questions concerning femininity and eating disorders in Western culture.

Keywords: eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, pro-ana, pro-mia, femininity, western culture, autoethnography

Pro-anorexia content, or content that promotes the development and sustainment of eating disorders, is an important topic that has been understudied in the literature. Previous research has primary examined the content featured on pro-anorexia websites, but few researchers have conducted experimental studies examining the direct impact viewing pro-anorexia content has on individuals struggling with an eating disorder. The current study was an experimental study that exposed participants to three conditions: proanorexia content, pro-recovery content, and a control group. The researcher examined the impact that viewing the three levels of content for 10 minutes had on individuals who met criteria and who did not meet criteria for an eating disorder on the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale. Participants were examined using the Eating Attitudes Test to examine eating disorder symptomology and the Body Assessment Scale to examine body satisfaction after every condition. The results of this study showed that participants who met criteria for an eating disorder reported increased eating disorder symptomology after viewing the pro-anorexia condition.

This thesis argues that the recent erasure of digital pro-anorexia ("pro-ana") narratives by websites such as Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram represents an attempt to silence female self-starvers and reify the authority of medical associations to speak for female bodies. I draw parallels between these attempts and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's theory of epistemic violence, since the experiences of women are effectively discredited, through metaphors that render the thin body dangerous, to shore up professional medical authority. As an attempt to privilege the experiences of the self-starvers, I analyze one Tumblr blog with eating disorder content to listen to the letters users anonymously write to their bodies in contrast to narratives written by "recovered" self-starvers that are officially endorsed by the National Eating Disorder Association. Finally, I argue that the Internet provides us with the opportunity to foster response-able witnessing, for which Kelly Oliver has advocated. I extend Oliver's research to argue that we must foster response-ability for all attempts to bear witness. I suggest that creating response-able spaces where others might witness their different embodied experiences can enable female self-starvers to reclaim subjectivity that medicine has taken from them. In so doing, they might learn to become response-able to their eating disorders, and, eventually, their own bodies.

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CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Investigação sobre os modos de expressão possibilitados pela expansão das redes informatizadas no século XXI. Análise de websites pró-anorexia e bulimia (personalizadas nos fóruns online como ana e mia) com o objetivo de compreender os efeitos (a) sobre os conteúdos veiculados, uma vez que são disponibilizados em rede, e (b) sobre os links se estabelecem neste ambiente de enredamento tecnológico, no qual cada nó – pessoa, assunto ou máquina – está em permanente disponibilidade à conexão. Com um referencial teórico que abrange Teorias da Comunicação, Ciências Sociais e, sobretudo, Psicanálise, agregam-se conhecimentos que, como nós de uma rede, se conectam, complementam e proporcionam bases para o estudo destes acontecimentos. Como objeto de nossa pesquisa, elegemos um escopo de websites, blogs e redes sociais representativos do movimento virtual pró-anorexia e bulimia que possibilitam descrever de modo original características importantes (nem sempre visíveis) desse fenômeno comunicacional típico da sociedade ocidental contemporânea.
Research about the ways of expression made possible by the widespread global computer networks in the 21st century. Analysis of pro-anorexia and bulimia websites (conditions personalized in online forums as ana and mia) aimed to an understanding of their effects (a) on the broadcasted contents, once they are available online, and (b) on the links that are established in that technological networking environment, in which each node – person, subject or machine – is in permanent availability for connection. With a theoretical basis that involves Communication Theories, Social Sciences and, above all, Psychoanalysis, we bring together knowledges that, as nodes of a network, connect, complement and offer grounds for the study of these facts. As an object for our investigation, we elected a range of websites, blogs and social networks that represent the online pro-anorexia and bulimia movement, and allow an original description of important (but not always visible) characteristics of this communicational phenomena so typical of the western society.

La presente tesis explora las representaciones y prácticas corporales que se diseminan en el imaginario de las usuarias de las comunidades virtuales “pro ana”; a través del análisis del discurso presentado en sus blogs; ya que éstos encierran una serie de manifestaciones respecto a la cultura de la belleza femenina hegemónica basada en el ideal de la delgadez que une e identifica a este grupo de usuarias; cuya posición frente al peso se ha convertido en una obsesión que conlleva a una extrema racionalización del cuerpo; y, la exploración de dicho proceso es el propósito de este estudio. El estudio desarrollado se basa en una metodología cualitativa y se enmarca en los estudios de sociología del cuerpo que rescata las teorías del interaccionismo simbólico y el constructivismo social; de tal forma que se pueda explorar y entender el problema recogiendo la mayor riqueza de los datos. PALABRAS CLAVES: Comunidades virtuales, anorexia, ideal de belleza.
--- This thesis explores the representations and bodily practices that spread in the imagination of users of virtual communities "pro ana"; by analyzing the speech delivered on their blogs; because they contain a series of events regarding the hegemonic culture of female beauty based on the ideal of thinness that unites and identifies this group of users; whose position on the weight has become an obsession that leads to extreme rationalization of the body; and exploration of this process is the purpose of this study. The study was developed based on a qualitative methodology and is part of the studies of sociology of the body that rescues the theory of symbolic interaction and social constructivism; so that you can explore and understand the problem collecting richer data. KEYWORDS: Virtual communities, anorexia, beauty ideal.
Tesis

There are several possibilities for those with an eating disorder, who wishes to get treatment and recover to get help and support. But for those who are not ready to recover, there are not any help to receive. Pro-ana is a youth culture where individuals who want to achieve the anorectic ideal help and support each other. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse the content and the need for the Pro-ana community on Internet, among young people with eating disorders. More specifically the aim was to find out how young Swedish people uses the Pro-ana communities on Internet. The study was an ethnography based on concealed observations of 6 different Pro-ana websites on Internet. During the observations five themes has been used: anonymity, thinspiration, life choice or disease, help or no help and identity. The analysis was based on Goffmans (2004) The presentation of self in everyday life, and the authors thesis about how humans represents them self in the accompany of others. Pro-ana websites consists of diary notes about weight, food, exercise and how to cope with an eating disorder. The Pro-ana culture online has become kind of a support group to which young people turn when society has no knowledge and no resources to meet them and social work are very limited on these sites. When not dare to tell friends and family about their situation, they turn to Pro-ana, which has been described as a sanctuary away from society’s judgements.

Länge har den medicinska diskursen dominerat med närmast ensamrätt att förstå och förklara ”avvikande” beteenden och det förhållande till kroppen som av dessa följer. Antingen har ätstörningar förklarats med hänvisning till individens biologiska förutsättningar eller, i enlighet med mer sociokulturella intressen, som ett slags resultat av samhällsstrukturers obevekliga makt. I flera av de studier som ligger till grund för denna uppsats kan man skymta något som Megan Jane Warin diskuterar i sin doktorsavhandling Becoming and Unbecoming. Nämligen att man kan närma sig en förståelse för anorexi genom att betrakta själva tillståndet till den sjukes egna kropp som dynamiskt – som samtidigt präglat av närhet och avstånd. Det är denna öppning som föreliggande uppsats utgår ifrån och med hjälp av ett retoriskt perspektiv försöker precisera och fördjupa. I en analytisk diskussion undersöks hur kvinnokroppen diskursivt konstrueras för att begripliggöras i samtidigt personliga och offentliga rum, samt hur konsekvenserna av detta manifesteras i två fenomen på nätet som rör kvinnor och kvinnors kroppar. Med hjälp av Judith Butlers teorier om begriplighet, subjektskapande och kroppens roll däri, samt Michel Foucaults teorier om den makt som subjektet både utövar och underställer sig samtidigt, närmar jag mig en förklaringsmodell som närmast kan liknas vid ett gummiband – där den kamp mellan närhet och avstånd som tidigare forskare refererat till specificeras till en kamp mellan intern begriplighet och kontroll.

Tese de mestrado, Doenças Metabólicas e Comportamento Alimentar, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, 2016
Pro-ana websites have been growing in number and popularity. These websites promote anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle rather than a disease. Consequently, it tends to negatively affect the quality of life of visitors. Aiming to better understand the associations between pro-ana website usage and the quality of life of anorexic patients, the goal of this study was to identify a path of influence between pro-ana website usage and the quality of life of visitors. Hence, this study proposed the following model (Pro-Ana Website Usage → Dietary Restraint → Body Dissatisfaction → Self-Esteem → Quality of Life). Another goal of this study was to compare patients who visit pro-ana websites to patients who do not visit it, regarding different psychological variables as quality of life, eating disordered behaviors, body dissatisfaction, psychosocial impairment and self-esteem. Fifty Portuguese female anorexic patients participated in this study. In order to collect data, it was used a demographic and clinical questionnaire and 5 other scales (WHOQOL-BREF, RSES, BSQ, CIA and EDE-Q). Our results showed that body dissatisfaction, psychosocial impairment and eating disordered behaviors levels were higher for patients who visit pro-ana websites compared to patients who do not visit it. In addition, quality of life was lower for patients who visit pro-ana websites compared to patients who do not visit it. Regarding self-esteem, our results showed no significant difference between the 2 groups of patients. Besides that, our study found that the indirect effect of proana website usage on quality of life passes through dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction and self-esteem. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the use of pro-ana websites is related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, psychosocial impairment and eating disordered behaviors, and to lower levels of quality of life. Furthermore, the hypothesized model was supported by our findings, which shows that the use of pro-ana websites is positively associated with dietary restraint, which is positively associated with body dissatisfaction, which in turn is negatively associated with self-esteem, which is positively associated with quality of life. Perhaps, the most significant contribution of this study is the proposition of a new significant model that shows a path of influence. However, I do not claim that this is the only possible path of influence. There may be other variables associated with this process that we have not tested on our study.
A anorexia nervosa é um transtorno alimentar grave que afeta o corpo e a mente. Ela é caracterizada por perda de peso intencional, preocupação constante com o peso, a forma corporal e a comida, além de alterações na imagem corporal (Walsh, 2013). A anorexia nervosa é uma doença caracteristicamente privada e secreta. Geralmente, indivíduos anoréxicos sofrem sozinhos, lutando para controlar seu corpo através da obsessão sobre o que ingerem (Dolan, 2003). Esta doença afeta 0,3-3% das mulheres e é uma das doenças crônicas mais prevalentes em adolescentes do sexo feminino em todo o mundo (Hoek van & Hoeken, 2003). Ela também é uma das dez principais causas de incapacidade das jovens do sexo feminino e tem uma das mais altas taxas de mortalidade entre todos os transtornos psiquiátricos (Mathers, Vos, Stevenson, & Begg, 2000; Sullivan, 1995). Atualmente, existe uma grande conexão entre a anorexia nervosa e o uso da internet. A internet pode ser uma legítima fonte de informação relacionada à promoção da saúde, embora possa também ser utilizada como uma ferramenta para a troca de informações errôneas e promoção de comportamentos não-saudáveis (Finfgeld, 2000; Johnsen, Rosenvinge, & Gammon, 2002). Particularmente preocupantes são os websites pro-anorexia (pro-ana). Fatores como a fácil acessibilidade da internet e a crescente taxa de prevalência da anorexia nervosa podem ser fortes contribuintes para a existência e popularidade desse movimento pro-ana. Websites pro-ana promovem a anorexia nervosa como um estilo de vida ao invés de reconhecerem-na como uma doença, potencialmente fazendo-a parecer menos grave para os visitantes desses sites (Peebles et al, 2012;. Wilson, Peebles, Hardy, & Litt, 2006). Websites pro-ana permitem que os seus visitantes falem livremente e compartilhem suas experiências com um senso de segurança pessoal (Mulveen & Hepworth, 2006). Consequentemente, eles promovem uma comunidade de apoio e incentivo para os seus visitantes, encorajando-os a manter a sua doença e a perder ainda mais peso, permitindo assim a perpetuação da anorexia nervosa na ausência de tratamento (Dolan, 2003). Evidências crescentes indicam que o uso de websites pro-ana tende a afetar negativamente os seus visitantes em muitos aspectos de suas vidas, como: satisfação corporal (Harper, Sperry, & Thompson, 2008); qualidade de vida (Peebles et al., 2012); duração do tratamento (Wilson, Peebles, Hardy, & Litt, 2006); frequência das hospitalizações (Wilson et al., 2006); ingestão calórica (Jett, LaPorte, & Wanchisn, 2010); níveis de perfeccionismo (Custers & Van den Bulck, 2009); e auto-estima (Bardone-Cone & Cass, 2007). Embora estes estudos tenham aumentado nossa compreensão relacionada às consequências da utilização de websites pro-ana, nós ainda conhecemos pouco sobre as associações entre o uso de websites pro-ana e a qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes. Visando compreender melhor estas associações, o objetivo deste estudo foi identificar um caminho de influência entre o uso de websites pro-ana e a qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes. Assim, este estudo propôs o seguinte modelo (Uso do Websites Pro-Ana → Restrição Dietética → Insatisfação Corporal → Auto-Estima → Qualidade de Vida). Outro objetivo deste estudo foi comparar as pacientes que visitam websites pro-ana com as pacientes que não visitam, em relação a diferentes variáveis psicológicas (insatisfação corporal, autoestima, qualidade de vida, comprometimento psicossocial e comportamentos alimentares desordenados). As participantes deste estudo foram 50 pacientes Portuguesas, anoréxicas, do sexo feminino (com media de idade de 23,72 (SD= 11,21) Min=14/ Max=61). Para coletar os dados, foram utilizados um questionário sócio-demográfico e clínico e 5 outras escalas: WHOQOL-BREF (para medir a qualidade de vida), RSES (para medir a auto-estima), BSQ (para medir a insatisfação com o corpo), CIA (para medir o comprometimento psicossocial) e EDE-Q (para medir os comportamentos alimentares desordenados). ANCOVA análises foram conduzidas para comparar as médias entre os grupos e uma análise de mediação foi realizada para testar o modelo proposto no presente estudo. Nossos resultados mostraram que as razões mais relacionadas à utilização de websites pro-ana foram: (1) aprender novas técnicas para perder peso (40%), (2) procurar motivação para perder peso (25%), e (3) procurar apoio emocional (25%). Além disso, nossos resultados mostraram que as diferenças entre os níveis de insatisfação corporal (p = 0,017), comprometimento psicossocial (p = 0,001), comportamentos alimentares desordenados (total) (p = 0,003), preocupação com o peso (p = 0,005), preocupação com a forma (p = 0,009) e preocupação com a comida (p = 0,001) foram significativamente maiores para as pacientes que visitam websites pro-ana em comparação com as pacientes que não visitam. O nível de restrição dietética (p = 0,064) foi marginalmente significativamente maior para as pacientes que visitam websites pro-ana em comparação com as pacientes que não visitam esses sites. Por outro lado, o nível de qualidade de vida (p = 0,089) foi marginalmente significativamente maior para as pacientes que não utilizam websites pro-ana em comparação com as pacientes que utilizam esses sites. A diferença entre os níveis de auto-estima entre os 2 grupos de pacientes não foi significativa (p = 0,125). Consistente com os nossos resultados, Wilson et al. (2006) afirmou que o uso de websites pro-ana é um mecanismo provável de agravamento dos transtornos alimentares entre os seus visitantes. Além disso, investigações recentes têm encontrado apoio para o fato de que visitar websites pro-ana está relacionado a níveis significativamente mais elevados de insatisfação corporal do que visitar websites pro-recuperação (Harper et al., 2008). Ainda, um estudo recente que verificou a correlação entre o uso de websites pro-ana e a qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes mostrou uma clara associação entre o nível de uso de websites proana e a baixa qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes (Peebles et al., 2012). Pesquisadores também afirmam que esse tipo de websites estimulam e reforçam comportamentos alimentares desordenados, como a restrição dietética (Jett et al., 2010). Nosso estudo também identificou um caminho de influência— o efeito indireto do uso de websites pro-ana na qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes através de restrição dietética, insatisfação corporal e auto-estima. Os resultados da análise de mediação revelaram que: (1) o uso de websites pro-ana está positivamente associado à restrição dietética (β = .91, SE =.50, t = 1.80, p = 0,07); (2) a restrição dietética está positivamente associada à insatisfação corporal (β = .44, SE = .09, t = 4.9, p < 0,001); (3) a insatisfação corporal está negativamente associada à auto-estima (β = -.42, SE = .09 , t = -4.7, p < 0,001); e (4) a auto-estima está positivamente associada à qualidade de vida (β = .56, SE = .12, t = 4.6, p < 0,001). Esta analise foi realizada controlando as seguintes variáveis: idade, IMC, duração da doença e duração do tratamento. Em conclusão, os nossos resultados sugerem que o uso de websites pro-ana está relacionado a maiores níveis de insatisfação corporal, comprometimento psicossocial e comportamentos alimentares desordenados (restrição dietética, preocupação com o peso, preocupação com a forma e preocupação com a comida). Nossos resultados ainda mostraram que as pacientes que visitam websites pro-ana têm níveis mais baixos de qualidade de vida em comparação às pacientes que não visitam esses websites. Além disso, nossos resultados apoiam o modelo proposto, o qual mostra que o uso de websites pro-ana está positivamente associado à restrição dietética, a qual que está positivamente associada à insatisfação corporal, a qual por sua vez está negativamente associada à auto-estima, a qual está positivamente associada à qualidade de vida. O conhecimento gerado através deste estudo pode ser útil para o avanço da teoria existente. Além disso, ele também pode orientar os profissionais de saúde sobre o planejamento do tratamento dos pacientes com anorexia nervosa. Por exemplo, o uso de websites pro-ana deveria ser abordado na fase inicial do planejamento do tratamento e incorporado na tomada de decisões. Para visitantes de websites pro-ana, este trabalho tem um propósito informativo, alertando-os sobre os efeitos negativos relacionados ao uso desses websites. Apesar dos progressos feitos através deste estudo, há espaço para futuros estudos, com um design longitudinal, para investigar se as variáveis testadas em nosso estudo são mediadores do efeito do uso de websites pro-ana na qualidade de vida dos seus visitantes. Estudos futuros podem também testar se a qualidade de vida de diferentes grupos de visitantes varia de acordo com o número de horas que estes gastam visitando websites pro-ana. Além disso, eles podem investigar se o uso de websites pro-ana afeta os seus visitantes em outros aspectos para além da qualidade vida, por exemplo na duração do tratamento da anorexia nervosa.

Websites promoting anorexia nervosa (AN) as a valid lifestyle choice, commonly referred to as pro-ana websites, have burgeoned in recent years (Harper, Sperry & Thompson, 2008). It has been pointed out that pro-ana websites create a secretive and exclusive forum where pro-anorexics are welcomed and others are shunned (Giles, 2006). It has also been noted, in clinical literature on AN (e.g. Minuchin, Rosman & Baker, 1978), that these interpersonal relationships are often dysfunctional, as those diagnosed with the disorder have been described as having a low tolerance for conflict and difficulty in resolving problems. The purpose of this research was to explore how interpersonal relationships are portrayed on the websites in comparison to how past research has described anorexic individuals ways of relating. This was then considered in light of how members are influenced by the in-group dynamics in terms of social identity theory and McMillan and Chavis’ model of sense of community. Thematic content analysis of three pro-ana websites yielded two overarching themes: relationships on the pro-ana websites and in-groups and out-groups on the pro-ana websites. Results indicated that the quality of relationships on the pro-ana websites were portrayed as more open and conflictual in comparison to how both past research and the website members presents their face-to-face interactions as secretive and conflict avoidant. This certain quality of interpersonal relating was found to be strengthened by the meaning and value placed on in-group membership and social identity.

Current literature on the topic of anorexia is dominated by the disciplines of psy, which has meant that the practice of self-starvation is viewed as originating from the pathological nature of the individual ; divorcing the experience of anorexia from the very social and cultural backdrop from within which it emerges. Contrastingly, socio-cultural approaches to anorexia have focused on the contextual features of the disorder that relate to the historical specificity of our contemporary condition. This has often meant that self-starving is conceptualized as the result of women either over-conforming to, or resisting, the cultural ideal of the slim body. The complexity of anorexic practice is neglected when it is discursively positioned in this way because there is a multiplicity of discourses which constitute the anorexic's subjectivity. Due to the fact that psy discourse has particular influence on the anorexic experience this thesis employs a critical discourse analytic approach to explore how women, in the pro-anorexia internet community, negotiate their subjectivity through reproducing, restructuring, and challenging the discursive constructions of psy which are produced by the DSM-IV. The transgressive nature of the pro-ana community has meant that its members have been framed as either oppressed or liberated, as cultural dupes or as active agents; demonstrating a pattern which mirrors the same binary logic that has surrounded discussions of the 'anorexic' for decades. Through transcending these limitations, the findings of this study are used to articulate an alternative viewpoint of the community which challenges the dominant discourses which surround it at present.

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This book takes a novel approach to the study of male eating disorders – an area that is often dominated by clinical discourses. The study of eating disorders in men has purportedly suffered from a lack of dedicated attention to personal and socio-cultural aspects. Delderfield tackles this deficiency by spotlighting a set of personal accounts written by a group of men who have experiences of disordered eating. The text presents critical interpretations that aim to situate these experiences in the social and cultural context in which these disorders occur. This discursive work is underpinned by an eclectic scholarly engagement with social psychology and sociology literature around masculinities, embodiment and fatness, belonging, punishment, stigma, and control; leading to understandings about relationships with food, body and self. This is undertaken with a reflexive element, as the personal intersects with the professional. This text will appeal to students, scholars and clinicians in social sciences, humanities, and healthcare studies, including public health.