The behavioural approach as an explanation for eating disorders

 This approach outline anorexia as the result of conditioning. It focuses on:
  - Classical conditioning : eating food is associated with anxiety.
  - Operant conditioning : individuals are given positive reinforcement for being slim.
  - Social learning theory : young women are rewarded for being slim and imitate cultural role models.
 The success of behaviour modification therapy support these explanations.
 While this approach can explain features of the disorder such as cultural specificity and the increasing incidence of eating disorders, it has been criticised in that:
  - It doesn't explain why some women develop the disorder, but others do not.

 The cognitive approach as an explanation for eating disorders
 This approach focuses on:
  - Distorted cognitions about body image.
 However this approach can be criticised in that:
  - Cognitions may be an effect of the disorder, rather than the cause.