Relationship between Disturbed Eating Behavior and Other Psychosomatic Symptoms in Adolescents

BACKGROUND: There has been relatively little research on subthreshold eating disorders and factors which might promote their transition to eating disorders. METHODS: A sample consisting of 1,944 Swiss adolescents of both sexes, 14-19 years of age, was investigated for eating behavior (EAT-26), psychological (SCL-90-R) and physical symptoms (GSCL-C). In addition, the relationship between eating behavior and other psychosomatic symptoms was analyzed. RESULTS: The results revealed significantly higher scores for females than males on all except one scale of the questionnaires. Three categories of disturbed eating behavior based on the EAT scores were described: EAT 0-9 = not disturbed (77.5% girls, 93.1% boys), EAT 10-19 = moderately disturbed (14.1% girls, 5.5% boys), and EAT > or = 20 = severely disturbed (8.3% girls, 1.5% boys). With regard to the three aspects, eating habits, psychosomatic symptoms and suicidality a significant correlation between disturbed eating behavior and concurrent psychological and physical symptoms was found in female but not in male subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasized that disordered eating behavior has to be seen as part of a broader psychopathological syndrome, especially in young women.