The extent of eating disorders and comorbid psychopathology among adolescent school pupils

Objective

Limited literature exists on the extent of eating concerns among adolescents. This study examines the extent of eating disorder pathology and psychosocial correlates among 11- to 18-year-olds.

Method

School pupils (N = 382; 52% female; 72.8% Caucasian) provided demographic information and completed measures of eating disorder pathology (using a cut-off of > 3.64 on the seven-item Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire), psychosocial impairment, body shape dissatisfaction and mood. Levels of comorbid problems were compared across adolescents with low- and high-risk for eating disorders, using Mann-Whitney tests and Chi-squared tests and an alpha of 0.001 (to account for exploratory analyses).

Results

A fifth (20.7%) of pupils exhibited clinical levels of eating disorder pathology, and they scored significantly worse on the other measures of psychopathology than those without such eating concerns. The majority (89.9%) of pupils with eating disorder pathology scores were above the clinical threshold in one or more comorbid areas. Eating disorder pathology and measures of comorbidity were all significantly intercorrelated.

Discussion

A fifth of pupils were at-risk of eating disorder pathology, and almost all demonstrated substantial comorbidity. Contrary to the ‘white female’ eating disorder stereotype, many of those with eating concerns were non-white and over a third did not identify as female. These findings require further work on the screening technology, but highlight the pressing need for access to eating disorder prevention and treatment for a diverse population of such adolescents.