Prevalence of self-induced vomiting and laxative/medication abuse among female adolescents: A longitudinal study

Abstract

In order to assess the prevalence and stability of weight reduction techniques utilized by adolescent females, three comprehensive samples of middle school and high school students (ages 12–18) were surveyed in the springs of 1984, 1989, and 1992. All participants were enrolled in the same school district to ensure that the groups were demographically equivalent. The results demonstrated a significant decrease in the use of appetite suppressants among high school students. However, middle school females reported a significant increase in medication use and self‐induced vomiting during the same 7‐year period. Laxative abuse has persisted unchanged for a small segment of both populations. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

An epidemiological study of eating disorders in Iran

“…Purging behaviors to control weight were again more common among students in Tehran than among students in Pakistan and Cairo (Nasser, 1994). However, Newmark-Sztainer, Palti, andButler (1995) reported higher rates of purging among high school girls in Israel and several studies in the United States have also reported higher rates (Phelps, Andrea, Rizzo, Johnston, & Main, 1993;French et al, 1997). Many of the weight control behaviors practiced by the Tehran students were similar to those used in Western countries.…”

Relations of Eating Disorder Symptomology with Perceptions of Pressures from Mother, Peers, and Media in Adolescent Girls and Boys

“…Several investigators have suggested that the diagnostic thresholds defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association 2000) for anorexia and bulimia are too high and that partialsyndrome cases should be included in studies of eating disorders because they represent a risk to health, as well (Herzog and Delinsky 2001). For example, researchers have investigated factors related to eating disorder symptomology such as dieting and unhealthy weight reduction practices (Phelps et al 1993), unhealthy pursuit of muscularity (McCreary and Sasse 2000; Ricciardelli and McCabe 2004), body dissatisfaction (Presnell et al 2004;Stice and Whitenton 2002), and drive for thinness (Wertheim et al 2002) without including the full-syndrome EDs. In general, research involving non-clinical populations of adolescent girls and adult women has suggested that the prevalence of partial syndromes is higher than full syndrome EDs (Shisslak et al 1995).…”

Partial eating disorders among adolescents: A review

“…This high rate of symptoms is linked both with the questions and concerns raised by the pubertal changes and by the increasing interest of our society in issues such as the shape of the female body and the search for an ideal weight. The prevalence rate of purging behaviors (vomiting, laxatives, diuretics) fluctuates between 5% and 16%, depending on the setting and the age of the adolescent population [50,56,57]. In European countries, the figures are fairly similar [31,42,58 -60].…”