Eating Disorder Risk and Personality Factors in Adolescent Girls

There is a consistent research that shows that adolescents have frequent concerns and worries about their body and self-image. One important factor is the biological and physiological context of development in adolescence, a stage of significant transformation in overall human development. A sample of 185 adolescent girls, aged between 18 and 21 years old, all residing in Constant' County, has been assessed with 4 questionnaires: Garner's Eating Disorder Inventory (2004), Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (2002), The Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson, fendelson, & White, 2001), and the Sociocultural Attitudes toward Appearance Scale (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehring, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the risk of eating disorders and various psychological traits and variables. We examined all variables the questionnaires measured and selected only the statistically confirmed hypotheses (for p<.05). We obtained significant correlations between the risk of eating disorders and ineffectiveness, interpersonal problems, affective problems, excessive control, neuroticism-anxiety, body esteem, the internalization of the perfect athletic body, the internalization of the perfect ideal body and the pressure of having a perfect appearance. Results are discussed with regard to the psychological implications of this study and the need for additional research.