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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Objective: The aetiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) is considered to be multifactorial. This study aims to identify potential risk factors for
AN and whether these factors are specific to AN or precede the development of psychiatric disorders in general and to identify specific life
events in the 12 months immediately preceding the onset of eating disorder (ED) symptoms.
Method: A case-control design was used to compare a group of women who meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition criteria for AN (N= 86) with healthy controls (N= 86) and with a group of controls with other psychiatric disorders
(N= 68), each group matched to the AN patients by age and parental socioeconomic status bands. Risk factors were assessed by
interviewing each person with the Oxford Risk Factor Interview.
Results: Women with AN reported significantly higher rates of perfectionism, negative attitudes toward parents’ shape and weight,
significant concern about feeling fat and a family history of AN or bulimia nervosa. Critical comments about weight, shape or eating
was the most notable event in the year preceding AN onset.
Discussion: Perfectionism and a family history of ED emerged as the most convergent findings in the development of AN,
along with being critical toward parents’ shape and weight, and feeling fat. Critical comments about appearance and
eating seem to be an important precipitating factor in AN onset
Description
Keywords
Anorexia nervosa Risk factors Perfectionism Family history of ED Replication
Citation
MACHADO, Bárbara; GONÇALVES, Sónia; MARTINS, Carla; HOEK, Hans W.; MACHADO, Paulo P. - Risk Factors and Antecedent Life Events in the Development of Anorexia Nervosa: A Portuguese Case-Control Study. European Eating Disorders Review. ISSN 1099-0968. Vol. 22 (2014), p. 243–251
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons