1. Developing the Female Competition Stress Test Caitlin Bardos, Masami Chin, Emily Sheppard

2. Anorexic Behavior, Female Competition and Stress: Developing the Female Competition Stress Test Catherine Salmon, Department of Psychology, University of Redlands, Redlands, USA Charles B. Crawford, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada Sally Walters, Department of Psychology, Capilano College, North Vancouver, Canada Evolutionary Psychology – 2008. 6(1): 96-112

3. Goal To create a test to measure stress resulting from adolescent female-female competition Female Competition Stress Test (FCST) FCST can be used in further studies to asses correlations between female-female stress and eating disorder prevalence

4. Background: Evolutionary explanation for anorexia nervosa? Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis (RSH): weight control evolved as an adaptation for adjusting reproductive effort in response to environmental conditions faced by ancestral females Environmental conditions: Excessive female-female competition Attention from males who were undesirable mating partners FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

5. Background: Female-Female Competition Females compete with each other to maximize their own reproductive success Compete for status and desirable males RSH: Where there is female-female competition, there is reproductive suppression FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

6. Example: Talapoin Monkeys The presence of dominant female monkeys is associated with an alteration in hormone levels in subordinate monkeys Results in suppression of ovulation FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

7. Continues to play an important role for teen girls Compete for status and boys Can lead to stress FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis Background: Female-Female Competition

8. Background: Possible Explanation for Anorexia Does female competition stress increase anorexic type behavior? If Cady showed anorexic symptoms, might they be influenced by the stress from competition with Regina? Need a way to test female-female stress competition, thus FCST! FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

9. Construction of FCST Phase I: Generated preliminary items for FCST Phase II: Assess reliability and validity Study 1: Administered test using 4 point scale Study 2: Administered test with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Study 3: Administered test to obtain prototypicality of items Phase III: Administered test to adolescent girls along with measures of body image FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

10. Results Female-female competition stress is distinct from concerns about appearance FCST measures more than just stress related to physical appearance FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

11. Further Research Examine outcomes of female-female stress using FCST Related to anorexic-type symptoms? Possible measure for teens at risk for developing eating disorder More insight on RSH FCST - Female Competition Stress Test RSH - Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis