Bulimia in adolescents: Prevalence and psychosocial correlates

Abstract

A bulimic episode during adolescence appears to be a risk factor for chronic eating disorders, yet little is known about the prevalence or psychosocial correlates of bulimia in this age group. The prevalence of bulimia was determined in a geographically, racially, and economically diverse sample of 1,373 high school boys and girls. In addition to DSM‐III criteria, a minimum binge‐eating frequency of once per month was employed. For bulimia, with purging, a minimum purging frequency of once per month was employed. Bulimia was identified in 9.6% of girls (with purging, 2.2%; without purging, 7.4%) and in 1.2% of boys (with purging, 0.1%; without purging, 1.1%). The two subtypes of bulimia subjects were demographically and psychologically equivalent. Bulimia subjects (combined) did not differ from normals on race, age, or SES. Bulimics exhibited more negative body image, negative self‐esteem, social anxiety, and depression than normals. In the total sample of students, general eating disorder symptomatology was predicted by measures of body image, depression, and social anxiety in girls and by body image and depression in boys.

Mass Media and Self-Esteem, Body Image, and Eating Disorder Tendencies

“…Among young women, various eating-related problems such as use of laxatives or diuretics, strict eating restraints, and binge eating are associated with body dissatisfaction (Kiemle, Slade, & Dewey, 1987;Klingenspor, 2002). Furthermore, other research shows that body dissatisfaction is a better predictor of eating disorder behaviors in adolescent women than depression or social anxiety (Gross & Rosen, 1988). Because exposure to thin-idealized images is considered a crucial factor that exacerbates disordered eating behaviors, the third hypothesis was developed:…”

Subclinical versus formal eating disorders: Differentiating psychological features

“…The determination of the true prevalence of both disorders has been hampered by the lack of a consensus over diagnostic criteria and poor research methods. Variable prevalence rates for bulimia nervosa have recently been reported in a number of different studies (e.g., Gross & Rosen, 1988;.…”

Validez interna y utilidad diagnóstica del Eating Disorders Inventory en mujeres mexicanas

“…[9][10][11] Existe información en relación con la capacidad de este cuestionario como herramienta de tamizaje cuando es comparado con un instrumento creado para ese fin, como es el Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), [11][12][13] que ha sido empleado en múltiples estudios para predecir los TA en diferentes poblaciones. 14 Este tipo de cuestionarios tienen limitaciones, pero permiten un primer acercamiento a grandes grupos de población.…”