Self‐Concept in Adolescent Anorexics

Two measures of self-concept, the Offer Self-image Questionnaire (OSIQ) and the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB)-Introject, were administered to 30 hospitalized female adolescent anorexics. The OSIQ responses yielded a “mixed pattern” of self-concept as compared to normal subjects with good adjustment in some areas (e.g., morals, impulse control, educational goals) and very poor adjustment in others (e.g., emotional tone, body and self-image, sexual attitudes). This unusual OSIQ pattern appears to be unique to anorexics. The SASB-Introject found the anorexics to be self-restraining and self-attacking. However, what separated the anorexics from a normal reference group was not the level of self-restraint (both groups were high in this respect) but the intense intrapunitiveness of the anorexics. Comparing the two measures, good adjustment on the OSIQ scales was highly correlated with low self-attack on the SASB-Introject. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed.