Objective: Students from 5 public schools in east Tennessee in grades 6 through 10 were assessed for their risk of eating disorder. Method: The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT40), a self-administered questionnaire, was given anonymously to 1,302 male and female adolescents. Results: The results showed that 19.8% of females and 3.7% of males scored above 29, indicating high risk for development of an eating disorder. There was also a trend toward increased prevalence of risk in areas that are more rural. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the risk for eating disorders may be greater in rural areas than has previously been believed. This has implications for understanding the etiology of these diseases as well as demonstrating the need for more research in these often underserved areas.

Bibliography: pages 313-322. / This study addresses eating and body problems among women. It has three central aims. Firstly, it is a prevalence study of the attitudes and behaviours associated with the eating disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia, among a sample of female undergraduate students. Secondly, it serves as a study of the nature of problems associated with eating and body affect among this community of women, with a particular focus on those women who consider themselves to have an eating problem. Thirdly, it has a theoretical aim to address the issue of the role of culture, in particular socially constructed femininity, within the understanding of eating/body problems, ranging from "normal" women's relationships to their body and eating to the severe disorders of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The theoretical project within this study involves a critical review of theories which are pertinent to an understanding of the role of culture and femininity, both from within and outside of eating disorder literature. This review, together with empirical evidence from prevalence studies, highlights the importance of "normal" women's experiences with their body and eating and the ideological prescriptions in which these occur, within the understanding of eating/body problems. The mainstream view of eating disorders as abnormalities, apart from the "normal", is challenged in this way. The need for a theory which can articulate the complex psychical acquisition of cultural femininity, which does not reduce this process to either social or asocial determinants alone, is argued.

Ph.D., Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008 / The ‘two-world hypothesis’ argues that women may employ self-starvation as a means of coping with the demands of ‘straddling two worlds’ which occurs during periods of transition such as adolescence, industrialization, emancipation of women and culture clash, where women are required to ‘juggle’ the demands of conflicting socio-cultural expectations (Katzman & Lee, 1997). This resonates with the construct of acculturative stress proposed by Rodriguez, Myers, Mira et al., (2002) as the simultaneous ‘push and pull’ of opposing pressures to acculturate to a new culture and pressures against this acculturation from the culture of origin; and suggests that acculturative stress may mediate the development of eating disorders during periods of sociocultural transition. This study aimed to identify relationships between acculturative stress and eating disorder by exploring associations between the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Scale (MASI: Rodriguez et al., 2002), the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT26; Garner, Olmsted, Bohr & Garfinkel, 1982) and the Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale (EDDS: Stice, Telch & Rizvi, 2000) as a substitute for follow-up clinical interview, in a sample of black adolescent schoolgirls in the rapidly changing socio-cultural context of South Africa. Focus Groups were conducted to evaluate the validity of these instruments within the South African context. Groups suggested that the EAT26 needed to be qualified and the MASI needed to be modified and revised. The 34-item MASI-Revised contained three subscales, Pressure to Acculturate, Pressure against Acculturation, and a new subscale, Conflict, which appeared to reflect the sum of opposing acculturative pressures as cultural-identity confusion. The General Health Questionnaire-12 was used as a ‘gold standard’ measure of stress. The study selected a sample of 5 urban state high schools from which 187 black female learners were sampled from grades 9-12. Response rate was low and random sampling was not possible. Results indicated that 24.5% of the sample scored positively on the EAT26 and 13.9% qualified for a diagnosis of eating disorder as measured by the EDDS; while a further 24% engaged in regular dysfunctional eating patterns worthy of clinical attention. Subjects scoring positively on both the EAT26 and the MASI-R were significantly more likely (Odds Ratio=29.408; p<0.001) to have an eating disorder on EDDS than those who were negative on both scales. Eating disorders were also significantly and independently predicted by the MASI-R and the EAT26, where subjects scoring positively on either of these scales were significantly (Odds Ratio=4.917; p<0.001) more likely to have an eating disorder than those scoring negatively on both scales. Results suggested that acculturative stress may be a significant risk factor in the development of eating disorders in black South African females and that adolescents experiencing cultural identity confusion may be most at risk.

No description available.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between eating disorders and athletes using a meta- analysis of related previous research. This analysis included inquiries into the effects of the type of measure used and the type of sport in past research. A total of nine studies were included in the meta- analysis. Contrary to prediction, no effect was found for eating disorders among athletes . The type of measure used also had no significant effect, contrary to prediction. Consistent with hypothesis, an effect was found for type of sport with runners and mixed sports having no effect, while for gymnasts a trend toward an effect was found. These results were interpreted in relation to previously conducted research in the area. Various problems existing in the current study, as well as in past studies were discussed, and suggestions for future research in the area were offered.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

A wide body of research has investigated the possible pathogenic role of the family in the development of eating disorders. Within the context of the research which places family dynamics at the centre of psychopathology, little research attention has been given to the relationship between parent-adolescent attachment and eating disorders. There is currently no existing South African research in this area. This study aims to redress this balance by exploring the relationship between parental attachment (as measured by the Parental Attachment Questionnaire) and disordered eating (as measured by the Eating Disorders Inventory) among white female adolescents. The sample comprised 209 white female learners from a former 'model C' school in the Durban area. It was found that highly significant negative correlations existed between most of the subscales of the PAQ and EDI. Overall, canonical analysis revealed a significant relationship between parent-adolescent attachment and disordered eating. The relationship between the variables of attachment and disordered eating was very similar regardless of whether the two subscales of the PAQ (Affective Quality of Attachment and Parental Role in Providing Emotional Support) were combined or not. It was found that those adolescents who described their parental relationships as affectively positive and emotionally supportive and viewed their parents as supporting their independence, also described themselves as experiencing low levels of weight preoccupation, low levels of bulimic behaviour and interpersonal distrust, and high levels of personal effectiveness and interoceptive awareness. The above results are discussed in the light of the relevant available literature and research. The methodological and conceptual limitations of the study are explored and provide a basis for recommending possible future research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

Eating disorder symptoms are serious and prevalent problems in industrialized societies. Although many studies have individually investigated the influence of environmental factors on the development of eating disorder symptoms, few have considered the relative and cumulative impact of various contexts within the same study. The current study was conducted to examine the influence of the mass media, mothers, and peers on the development of eating disorder symptomology in male and female adolescents using an ecological model proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1995). Specifically investigated were students' perceptions of pressures exerted by the media and significant others to lose weight and be physically attractive. Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade adolescents in a suburban community were surveyed through self-report questionnaires; the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), select subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and a modified version of the Multidimensional Media Influence Scale (MMIS). Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that female students acknowledged higher levels of eating disorder symptomology and higher perceived pressures from mothers and the media than did males. Significant grade level differences were found only in levels of body dissatisfaction between sophomores and juniors. Canonical correlations showed that those students who perceived greater pressures across environmental contexts also reported more eating disorder symptomology. Further analyses of these findings are described. Implications for future research and prevention programs are discussed. / Department of Educational Psychology

Access to abstract is permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Access to dissertation permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Educational Psychology