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The struggle to be thin: a survey of anorexic and bulimic symptoms in a non-referred adolescent population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Agnes Whitaker ,
Mark Davies ,
David Shaffer ,
Jim Johnson ,
Sari Abrams ,
B. Timothy Walsh  and
Kevin Kalikow
Agnes Whitaker*
Affiliation:
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
Mark Davies
Affiliation:
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
David Shaffer
Affiliation:
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
Sari Abrams
Affiliation:
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
Kevin Kalikow
Affiliation:
Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Agnes Whitaker, Box 78, 722 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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Synopsis

Ninety-one per cent of a county-wide high school population (N = 5596) completed the Eating Symptoms Inventory (ESI) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT). Being female, older and heavier are far more strongly associated with anorexic and bulimic symptoms than is social class. ESI approximations of the DSM-III criteria for anorexia nervosa or bulimia suggest that while both conditions are rare (less than 1%), bulimia is the more prevalent disorder.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 143 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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