Subclinical Eating Disorders Among Female

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Marie Elizabeth Lloyd (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Diane Gill

Abstract: The purpose of this present study was to examine subclinical eating disorders among female collegiate athletes. Specifically, this study investigated the prevalence of subclinical eating disorders among athletes, compared the prevalence among athletes and non-athletes, and explored differences in the prevalence among sports. Also, the present study investigated athletic identity and self-presentational perfectionism as possible risk factors associated with subclinical eating disorders. Two hundred forty-five female athletes from ten different sports at four universities and sixty-one female non-athlete students from two different universities participated in this study. Those over the age of 24 or who had previously been diagnosed with a clinical eating disorder were excluded. All participants completed surveys including demographic information, the Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction, and Bulimia subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Eating Attitudes Test, the Body Shape Questionnaire, the Body Attractiveness subscale of the Physical Self Perception Profile, the Eating Disorder Inventory Symptom Checklist, the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, and the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale. The results indicated that athletes do not have a greater prevalence of subclinical eating disorders than non-athletes. However, 7% of athletes still met the classification criteria for a subclinical eating disorder. Also, athletes exhibited a high frequency in meeting each of the 6 criteria (ranging from 8.2% to 71.8%), which indicated that eating pathology was evident among the athletes. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of subclinical eating disorders among different sports, which suggests that all sports are at risk. Finally, athletic identity and self-presentational perfectionism were found to be risk factors associated with subclinical eating disorders for athletes.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2005
Keywords
subclinical eating disorders, female collegiate atheletes, prevalance, risk factors, athletic identity, self-presentational perfectionism
Subjects
College athletes--Health and hygiene
College athletes--Nutrition
Eating disorders in women
College sports--Psychological aspects

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