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Are eating and psychosocial characteristics in early teenage years useful predictors of eating characteristics in early adulthood? A 7‐year longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Calam Rachel,
Waller Glenn
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199812)24:4<351::aid-eat2>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - psychosocial , perfectionism (psychology) , psychology , psychopathology , longitudinal study , eating disorders , developmental psychology , young adult , disordered eating , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , pathology
Abstract Objectives This longitudinal research aimed to determine the utility of psychosocial and eating characteristics in early teenage years in predicting eating attitudes and behaviors in early adulthood. Method Self‐esteem, perfectionism, family function, and eating attitudes were measured at 12 years and eating attitudes and behavior were assessed at 19 years. Sixty‐three women (71.6%) remained in the study over the 7 years. Results Bulimic attitudes in early teenage years were related to subsequent bulimic features, while restrictive attitudes were more closely related to later purging behaviors. Self‐esteem and perfectionism were only weakly linked with subsequent eating. However, different perceived family characteristics at the first stage were associated with specific aspects of eating in early adulthood. Conclusions There is consistency of eating characteristics across time, but psychosocial characteristics have a more limited predictive power. Future longitudinal studies should begin earlier in childhood if psychosocial factors are to be useful predictors of eating psychopathology in adulthood. © 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 24: 351–362, 1998.