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Differences between Australian adolescents with eating disorder symptoms who are in treatment or not in treatment for an eating disorder
Author(s) -
Trompeter Nora,
Bussey Kay,
Forbes Miriam K.,
Mond Jonathan,
Hay Phillipa,
Basten Christopher,
Goldstein Mandy,
Thornton Christopher,
Heruc Gabriella,
Byrne Susan,
Griffiths Scott,
Lonergan Alexandra,
Touyz Stephen,
Mitchison Deborah
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/eip.13027
Subject(s) - eating disorders , distress , psychiatry , disordered eating , clinical psychology , mental health , mental health literacy , psychology , medicine , mental illness
Background Mental health problems frequently occur during adolescence, however, few adolescents seek treatment for these problems, especially for eating disorders. The current study aimed to quantify how adolescents in a clinical sample (ie, those receiving treatment for an eating disorder), differ in terms of psychological factors (eating disorder symptoms and psychological distress), compared to adolescents with eating pathology in a community sample (ie, those not receiving treatment). Method Data were used from a community sample of adolescents with eating disorder pathology who have not sought treatment (n = 1011) and a clinical sample of adolescents presenting at eating disorder services for treatment (n = 153). Participants reported demographics and completed questionnaires assessing weight/shape concerns, disordered eating and psychological distress. Results Adolescents with a lower BMI, more frequent purging and higher weight/shape concerns were more common in the clinical sample, while those engaging in more frequent driven exercise were less common in the clinical sample. The samples did not differ in severity of psychological distress. Conclusions The findings highlight the need for increasing mental health literacy about the role of BMI and driven exercise in eating disorder symptom presentation to increase early detection of these disorders among adolescents.