Proposing a causal model of body image perception with eating disorders by depression mediation in Iranian youth

The purpose of this study was to determine the causal relationship between eating disorders and body image perception mediated by depression in youth. The research sample consisted of 200 Khouzestan Science and Research University freshman students during 2003-2004 academic year, who ranged in age between 35 and 24 years old. Given that there were seven paths in the model, the number of participants, 200 were considered and subjects were selected using stratified random sampling method. Instruments included: Eating Disorder Inventory AEDI Coker and Rogers, body image questionnaire Fisher, and Beck Depression Inventory (BDS), Statistical methods used in this study was the correlation of path analysis. The results showed that the proposed model was befitting the data and path analysis also showed that both direct and depression mediated ,body image perception in eating disorders was affected and all relations with the bootstrap metod in the p< 0.005 had significant.In this way with increasing dissatisfaction with one's body image perception of high risk for eating disorders both bulimia and anorexia nervosa, and this is significant because the path coefficient between the perception of body image and depression.