Abstract
<p>Objective: Social rejection is a salient stressor during adolescence, a peak period for eating disorder (ED) onset. This study examined whether self-reported rejection sensitivity and affective responses to experimentally induced ostracism were associated with one another, and whether each independently predicted ED psychopathology, in non-clinical adolescent girls.Method: Forty-seven girls aged 13–14 completed Cyberball and the Needs-Threat Scale (NTS), the Online and Offline Social Sensitivity Scale (O²S³), the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale-5 (EDDS), and the Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ-10). Partial correlation and multiple linear regression, controlling for autistic traits, examined associations between NTS, O²S³ and EDDS scores.Results: NTS and O²S³ scores were positively correlated after controlling for AQ-10 (r = .37, p = .009). NTS, O²S³ and AQ-10 together predicted EDDS scores (R² = .32, p &lt; .001); O²S³ was an independent predictor (β = .43, p = .003), whereas NTS was not (β = .24, p = .104).Discussion: Self-assessed rejection sensitivity, rather than affective responses to induced ostracism, was associated with ED psychopathology, suggesting that subjective appraisal of everyday social rejection may be more clinically relevant than acute, laboratory-induced exclusion. Rejection sensitivity may represent a useful target for early ED intervention in adolescent girls.</p>