Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of eating disorders (ED) among Spanish adolescents and to present the reliability of the Catalan version of the EDE-12. METHOD: A community sample of 1155 participants, and a risk sample of 93 participants, aged between 10.9 and 17.3 years old, from the city of Barcelona participated in the study. The study involved two stages: first, an initial screening with the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), and second, a structured clinical interview (EDE-12). Three scales of the EDI-2 (Drive for thinness, Body dissatisfaction and Bulimia) were used to select the at risk sample; the Eating Disorders Examination-12 (EDE-12) was only administered to the at-risk sample. RESULTS: A 1.28% of the total sample was detected as ED (2.31% of girls and 0.17% of boys). Reliability coefficients of EDE-12 ranged from medium to high. DISCUSSION: Symptoms of anorexia and bulimia nervosa were higher among girls than boys. Preoccupation with maintained low weight, with body image and shape, and taking excessive exercise in order to loose weight, are increasing among Spanish adolescents. Prevalence rate of ED is lower than other studies with Spanish’ adolescents sample, and could be related to the sample age (13.16% of the sample is smaller than 12 years old), and to the non response bias to the interview because the assessment was carried out in the school setting.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gandarillas A., Zorrilla B., Sepúlveda A., Muñoz E.: Trastornos del comportamiento alimentario: Prevalencia de casos de mujeres adolescentes de la Comunidad de Madrid. Paper presented at the V Congreso virtual de Psiquiatría. Interpsiquis, 2004.
Rojo L., Livianos L., Conesa L., García A., Domínguez A., Rodrigo G., Sanjuan L., Vila M.: Epidemiology and risk factors of eating disorders: a two-stage epidemiologic study in a Spanish population aged 12–18 years. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 34, 281–291, 2003.
American Psychiatric Association [APA]: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. Washington, DC, 1994.
Hollingshead A.B.: Four-factor Index of Social Status. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1975.
Garner D., Olmstead M., Polivy J.: Development and validation of a multidimensional eating disorder inventory for anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 2, 15–34, 1983.
Gandarillas A., Febrel C., Galán I., León C., Zorrilla B., Bueno R.: Population at risk for eating disorders in a Spanish region. Eat. Weight Disord., 9, 179–185, 2004.
Cotrufo P., Barretta V., Monteleone P., Maj M.: Fullsyndrome, partial-syndrome and subclinical eating disorders: an epidemiological study of female students in southern Italy. Acta Psychiatr. Scand., 98, 112–115, 1998.
Garner D.: Eating Disorder Inventory-2. Professional Manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Spanish version: 1998. Inventario de conductas alimentarias. Madrid, TEA, 1991.
Schoemaker C., Van Strien T., Van der Staak C.: Validation of the eating disorders inventory in a nonclinical population using transformed and untransformed responses. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 15, 387–393, 1994.
Van Strien T., Ouwens M.: Validation of the Dutch EDI-2 in one clinical and two nonclinical populations. Eur. J. Psychol. Assess., 19, 66–84, 2003.
Muro P., Amador J.A., Peró M.: Factor structure of eating disorders-2 in a Spanish sample. Eat. Weight Disord., 11, e42–e52, 2006.
Fairburn C., Cooper Z.: The Eating Disorder Examination, 12th ed. In: Fairburn C.G., Wilson G.T. (Eds.), Binge eating: Nature, assessment and treatment. New York, Guilford Press, 1993, pp. 317–360.
Cooper Z., Cooper P., Fairburn C.: The validity of the Eating Disorder Examination and its subscales. Br. J. Psychiatry, 154, 807–812, 1989.
Ravaldi C., Vannacci A., Truglia E., Zucchi T., Mannucci E., Rotella C., Faravelli C., Ricca V.: The Eating Disorder Examination as a retrospective interview. Eat. Weight Disord., 9, 228–231, 2004.
Rosen J., Vara L., Wendt S., Leitenberg H.: Validity studies of the Eating Disorder Examination. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 9, 519–528, 1990.
Raich R.M., Mora M., Sánchez D., Torras J.: Adaptación y calidad psicométrica de la entrevista EDE (Eating Disorder Examination) para la evaluación de los trastornos alimentarios en población universitaria. Anorexia y Bulimia. AETCA, enero, 4–6, 2000.
Ruiz P., Alonso J., Velilla J., Lobo A., Martín A., Paumard C., et al. Estudio de prevalencia de trastornos de la conducta alimentaria en adolescentes de Zaragoza. Revista de Psiquiatría infanto-juvenil, 3, 148–162, 1998.
Pérez-Gaspar M., Gual P., Irala-Estévez J., Martínez- González M.A., Lahortiga, F., Cervera S.: Prevalencia de trastornos de la conducta alimentaria en las adolescentes navarras. Medicina Clínica (Barcelona), 114, 481–486, 2000.
Cooper Z., Fairburn C.: The Eating Disorder Examination: A semi-structured interview for the assessment of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders. Int. J. Eat. Disord., 6, 1–8, 1987.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muro-Sans, P., Amador-Campos, J.A. Prevalence of eating disorders in a Spanish community adolescent sample. Eat Weight Disord 12, e1–e6 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327773
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03327773