Day 137 MCAT Practice Question

Passage 3

Among other factors, disordered eating has been linked with immigration,

acculturative stress and Western beauty standards of thinness. Acculturation as a

complex and interdisciplinary phenomenon has been defined in multiple ways, all

implying meeting of cultures and the subsequent changes in individuals or groups.

Psychological acculturation refers to the changes an individual experiences as

a result of culture change while adjusting to a new dominant culture…Migrationrelated psychological distress and mental health vulnerability of immigrants

and refugees have been recognized by an abundance of research prompting

researchers to propose that culture change and adopting to Western lifestyles

posed certain risks for psychological well-being among diverse populations.



This study aimed to examine the association between immigration, acculturation

strategies and eating patterns.



Acculturation was conceptualized and measured by acculturation strategies of

integration (maintaining original culture and adopting the new culture), assimilation

(adopting the new culture and leaving behind the old), separation (sticking with the

original culture only) and marginalization (maintaining/adopting neither culture).

Eating patterns were conceptualized by dietary restriction, eating concern, shape

concern, and weight concern…



Five hundred and six Georgian women took part in the study: 253 living abroad (UK

and USA) and 253 living in Georgia. Measures included East Asian Acculturation

Measure (EAAM) for acculturation strategies (assimilation, integration, separation,

and marginalization subscales) and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire

(EDEQ) for eating patterns (dietary restriction, eating concern, weight concern,

shape concern subscales, and global score). Relevant demographic variables and

Body Mass Index (BMI) were recorded.

Correlational analyses showed that marginalization and separation appeared

to have strong statistically significant positive correlations with eating concern,

shape concern, weight concern, and global scores. Integration appeared to have

marginal negative correlations with eating concern and shape concern outcomes.

No correlations were identified between EDEQ restriction concern and any

acculturation strategy. The strategy of assimilation was not linked with any EDEQ

score either.



Comparisons of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups using Multivariate Analysis

of Covariance (MANCOVA) with BMI as a covariate found a difference in dietary

restriction only, with immigrants yielding higher mean score than non-immigrants.

The global EDEQ scores of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups were almost

identical though. Correlations between separation and marginalization and four

EDEQ scores were statistically significant and positive, while correlations between

integration and two EDEQ subscales were marginally significant and negative.

Regression analysis showed that separation and marginalization strategies of

acculturation were significantly linked with EDEQ eating concern, shape concern,

weight concern, and global scores thereby representing predictors of elevated

eating outcomes.



In summary, the findings on the links between immigration, acculturation strategies

and eating patterns of Georgian immigrants showed that…while living in a Western

country, acculturation strategies of separation and marginalization were associated

with higher eating concern, shape concern, weight concern and global scores of

EDEQ…



Culture Change and Eating Patterns: A Study of Georgian Women. Adapted from Ia

Shekriladze et al. (2019).

Which of the following conclusions can be accurately drawn from Table 1 as

presented in the passage above?

A) The relationship between EDEQ eating concern and marginalization is

significantly stronger than the relationship between EDEQ eating concern

and separation

B) In general, the influence of EDEQ shape concern on variables such as

marginalization, separation, integration, and assimilation is less important

than the influence of EDEQ eating concern on the same variables

C) The relationship between integration and EDEQ shape concern is less

statistically significant than the relationship between integration and EDEQ

weight concern

D) There is no statistically significant relationship between EDEQ global

concern and assimilation