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Eating disorder symptomatology among ballet dancers
Author(s) -
Ringham Rebecca,
Klump Kelly,
Kaye Walter,
Stone David,
Libman Steven,
Stowe Susan,
Marcus Marsha
Publication year - 2006
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/eat.20299
Subject(s) - bulimia nervosa , ballet , eating disorders , anorexia nervosa , disordered eating , psychology , binge eating , binge eating disorder , eating disorder inventory , ballet dancer , psychiatry , clinical psychology , overeating , medicine , obesity , dance , pathology , art , literature
Objective: The current study sought to compare eating disorder symptomatology among ballet dancers and individuals with restricting anorexia nervosa (RAN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and no eating pathology. Method: Twenty‐nine female ballet dancers completed assessments and were compared with an archival dataset of 26 women with RAN, 47 women with BN, and 44 women with no eating pathology. Eating disorder diagnoses and behaviors were assessed with a semi‐structured clinical interview, the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), and a weight history interview. Results: Eighty‐three percent of dancers met lifetime criteria for AN (6.9%), BN (10.3%), AN+BN (10.3%), or EDNOS (55.0%). Moreover, dancers looked more similar to eating‐disordered individuals than to control individuals on measures of eating pathology. Conclusion: Despite previous emphasis on the pathology AN, the current findings suggest that dancers frequently engage in binge eating and purging behaviors. Moreover, it appears that their pathology is as severe as that of non‐dancing women with eating disorders. © 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2006