Socio-cultural risk factors for eating disorders among adolescent and youth scholarized population.

Abstract

The authors evaluated the association of socio-cultural risk factors with the presence of eating disorders (ED). It was used a case-control design involving the comparison of 51 (47 female and 4 male) subjects with DSM-IV diagnostic of ED with 1,492 healthy control subjects. All subjects were 12 to 21 year old students in the Community of Madrid (Spain). A broad range of risk factors was assessed by questionnaire. Results showed that reported exposition to the following socio-cultural risk-factors was significantly higher among ED subjects compared to healthy controls: Parental domination, abandonment and criticism from parents (p < .001); Current and pre-morbid absenteeism from the school, Poor or bad relationship with the parents, Lack of parents’ affect and love, Severe sickness of parents and long absences of father or mother, High importance of the physical appearance in the family, and Received teasing for reasons other than weight and shape (p < .05). The findings support hypothesis that ED are the result of exposure to general risk factors for other psychiatric disorders and also risk factors for dieting.