Abstract

RUTSZTEIN, Guillermina et al. Eating Disorders in Female Adolescents: A Comparative Study between Patients, Dance Students and High School Students. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2010, vol.39, n.2, pp.329-346. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objectives: To analyze and to compare eating habits, body image perception and other relevant psychosocial variables of eating disorders in patients with these disorders, dance students and high school students. Materials and Methods: The sample included 440 female adolescents from Buenos Aires, aged between 13 and 18 years: 50 patients with eating disorders, 107 ballet students and 283 high school students. Participants completed a Sociodemographic and Specific Symptoms of Eating Disorders Questionnaire, the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and the Figure Scale (FS). Results: Dance students were not different to high school students in some variables usually associated with eating disorders (body image dissatisfaction, diet behaviour, excessive exercise in order to lose weight, self-induced vomiting, laxative use, and secondary amenorrhea), whereas patients showed a significantly higher frequency of these characteristics. Patients scored significantly higher in nine of the eleven subscales of the EDI-2. Moreover, a significantly larger proportion of patients and dance students (with respect to high school students) showed body image distortion. Conclusion: Dance students are more similar to high school students than to patients in several characteristics associated with eating disorders, except for body image distortion.

Keywords : Eating disorders; body image; adolescent.

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