An Analysis of Imagined Interactions With Pro-Ana (Anorexia)

Abstract

For individuals suffering from an eating disorder, the Internet is a place of encouragement and support. To date, however, no comprehensive research has been done to examine particular entries on blogs used by those individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to fill that gap. It focuses on what types of messages individuals communicate to pro-anorexia (Pro-Ana) website and what types of imagined interactions they have with others about their disorder. A total of 587 Pro-Ana blog entries were content analyzed. The results indicated that individuals with an eating disorder blog to talk about their illness, to ruminate about the conflict with their parents and peers who often disapprove of their actions, and to ask for advice. Food is the most cited theme in the blog entries. This supports the evolutionary perspective that food is always on their mind, something those with eating disorders try to control. A logistic regression analysis revealed that mental imagery in the form of imagining interaction with significant others was .50 times less likely to reflect mental illness issues and .24 times less likely to reflect binging problems when compared with entries that did not feature imaginary conversation with others. In terms of the interaction partners, most bloggers imagined talking with family members, followed by peers, professionals, and romantic partners, while a small number of entries reported having imagined interactions with Ana in terms of personification followed by coworkers, kids, or strangers.