Citation

Beato-Fernández L, Rodríguez-Cano T. Eat. Behav. 2005; 6(4): 337-344.

Affiliation

Eating Disorders Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Ciudad Real Hospital, Spain. LBEATO@terra.es

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.eatbeh.2005.02.002

PMID

16257807

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: (1) To identify gender differences regarding psychopathological, family and social characteristics in adolescents with abnormal eating behavior; (2) to study risk factors for this abnormal eating in boys and girls. METHOD: Adolescents participating in this community-based longitudinal study completed, at the age of 13 (t(1)) and 15 years (t(2)), a semi-structured interview and the validated Spanish versions of several self-reported questionnaires measuring eating and general psychopathology. A control group of 150 pupils and 159 adolescents with abnormal eating behavior were selected. RESULTS: Girls with abnormal eating showed significantly more psychiatric morbidity and boys more social difficulties. Body dissatisfaction and psychiatric morbidity predicted abnormal eating at t(2) only in girls. DISCUSSION: The findings contribute to the debate on gender differences in abnormal eating behavior etiology.

Language: en