Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Ekeroth, K. (2005). Psychological problems in adolescents and young women with\neating disturbances. Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Sweden\nThis thesis investigated general psychopathology in adolescent and young adult female\npatients with eating disorders (ED) and in women from the general population with\nor without self-reported eating problems. First, an overview of different approaches for\nassessing and classifying psychopathology is presented. The thesis continues with a general\ndescription of eating disorders and co-morbidity in eating disorder patients.\nSince no appropriate standardized self-report measure of general psychopathology for\nadolescents was available in Sweden, study I provides normative data for the Youth Self-\nReport (YSR) when completed by Swedish adolescents and tests the impact of various\ndemographical variables. In Study II, the YSR was used to assess general psychopathology\nand competencies in female adolescent ED patients compared to matched controls.\nResults showed that girls with ED reported less competence and more problems compared\nto controls. Patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) scored higher than both patients\nwith anorexia nervosa (AN) and those with an eating disorder not otherwise specified\n(EDNOS) on most problem scales, and AN-bingers/purgers scored higher than pure\nrestrictors on externalizing behaviors. About twice as many patients with BN and the\nbinging/purging type of AN scored in the clinical range on total problems compared\nto pure restricting AN patients and EDNOS patients. Study III compared young adult\nwomen with EDs with controls from the general population with and without self-reported\neating problems on general psychopathology, using the Symptom Check-List-90\n(SCL-90). Results showed that controls with self-reported eating problems reported as\nmany emotional and behavior problems as patients with ED. In study IV, a three-year\nfollow-up was obtained on young adult patients and controls concerning eating related\nproblems and general psychopathology. Results showed that after three years, patients\nwith ED did not differ significantly from controls, while the elevated problem scores\nin women with self-reported eating problems from the general population, remained.\nFindings are discussed in relation to diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
Author: Kerstin Ekeroth
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Vårdalstiftelsen
OpenAlex ID: W1494697974