Perceived acceptability of anorexia and bulimia in women with and without eating disorder symptoms

Figures & data

Table 1 Results (item loadings) of a principal components analysis of items assessing perceptions of the severity and acceptability of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) in young adult women (n = 312)

–	Severity		Acceptability ‘personal’		Acceptability ‘social’
Item	AN	BN	AN	BN	AN	BN
How distressing do you think it would be to have Lucy's (Kelly's) problem?	0.74	0.74	–	–	–	–
How sympathetic would you be towards someone with Lucy's (Kelly's) problem?	0.81	0.78	–	–	–	–
How difficult do you think it would be to treat Kelly's (Lucy's) problem?	0.78	0.70	–	–
Have you ever thought it might not be too bad to be like Lucy (Kelly)?	–	–	0.80	0.73	–	–
Do you think that having Kelly's (Lucy's) problem might have beneficial aspects?	–	–	0.73	0.73	–	–
How worried or concerned would you be if you thought you were developing Kelly's (Lucy's) problem?	–	–	0.76	0.65	–	–
Do you think that having Kelly's (Lucy's) problem would make someone more popular?	–	–	–	–	0.83	0.81
Do you think that people who have Kelly's (Lucy's) problem would find it easier to ‘fit in’?	–	–	–	–	0.87	0.85
Do you think that having Kelly's (Lucy's) problem would improve someone's confidence/self‐esteem?	–	–	–	–	0.62	0.54

Table 2 Correlations (Spearman's rho) between study variables in the total sample (n = 312)^a

–	Age	BMI	Eating disorder symptoms	AN severity	AN acceptability personal	AN acceptability social	BN severity	BN acceptability personal
Body mass index (BMI)	0.30	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Eating disorder symptoms^b	0.14	0.45	–	–	–	–	–	–
AN severity	0.02	0.04	0.06	–	–	–	–	–
AN acceptability personal	−0.07	0.05	0.42	−0.18	–	–	–	–
AN acceptability social	−0.08	−0.00	0.28	−0.17	0.45	–	–	–
BN severity	0.05	0.07	0.11	0.64	−0.06	−0.13	–	–
BN acceptability personal	−0.08	0.11	0.44	−0.13	0.54	0.33	−0.24	–
BN acceptability social	−0.08	0.03	0.25	−0.10	0.21	0.52	−0.21	0.34

^a With n = 312, correlations of 0.12 and 0.15 are significant at the 0.05 and 0.01 levels, respectively.

^b As measured by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire global score.

AN = anorexia nervosa; BN = bulimia nervosa.

Table 3 Mean (SD) age, body mass index (BMI), impairment in role functioning (SF‐12 PCS, MCS) and general psychological distress (K‐10) for asymptomatic women (‘non‐ED’, n = 268) and women with eating disorder symptoms (‘ED’, n = 44)^a

–	General population sample (n = 495)	Non‐ED (n = 268)	ED (n = 44)	Eating disorder patients (n = 118)	p ^b
Age (years)	33.46(8.91)	23.33(5.05)	22.80(3.79)	22.26(7.32)	<.01
BMI(kg/m^2)	24.85(5.45)	24.48(5.62)	27.52(7.11)	21.27(4.60)	<.01
EDE‐Q subscales^c
Restraint	1.22(1.42)	1.51(1.33)	3.56(1.54)	3.85(1.64)	<.01
Eating concern	0.64(1.00)	0.98(1.10)	3.42(1.56)	3.66(1.54)	<.01
Weight concern	1.65(1.42)	2.51(1.70)	5.38(0.87)	4.27(1.52)	<.01
Shape concern	2.10(1.58)	2.80(1.64)	5.43(0.85)	4.66(1.36)	<.01
Global score	1.40(1.20)	1.96(1.25)	4.44(0.95)	4.09(1.35)	<.01
SF‐12 PCS^d	50.73(8.76)	51.52(7.06)	49.52(8.96)	47.15(10.32)	<.01
SF‐12 MCS^d	47.40(10.30)	44.32(10.60)	33.73(10.97)	30.77(10.57)	<.01
K‐10^e	43.24(6.45)	39.26(6.06)	33.80(7.43)	30.48(7.73)	<.01

^a Data for a general population sample of women aged 18 to 40 years (n = 495) (Mond et al., 2004) and for a clinical sample of eating disorder patients (n = 118) (Mond et al., 2005) are given for descriptive purposes.

^b Significance of the difference between non‐ED and ED subgroups according to an independent samples t‐test.

^c Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE‐Q) subscales. Scores range from 0–6 with higher scores indicating greater symptom frequency or severity.

^d Medical Outcomes Study 12‐item Short‐Form Physical (PCS) and Mental (MCS) Component Summary scales. Lower scores indicate higher levels of perceived impairment.

^e Kessler Psychological Distress scale. Lower scores indicate higher levels of distress.

  ED = eating disorder.

Table 4 Responses to items assessing perceptions of the severity and acceptability of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) for asymptomatic women (‘non‐ED’, n = 268) and women with eating disorder symptoms (‘ED’, n = 44)

–	Lucy's problem (AN)		χ	p	Kelly's problem (BN)		χ	p
–	Non‐ED	ED			Non‐ED	ED
–	%	%			%	%
How distressing
Not at all	0.7	4.5	17.42	<.01	0.4	4.5	21.56	<.01
A little	4.1	15.9			0.7	9.1
Moderately	9.0	11.4			15.7	15.9
Very	33.6	15.9			47.4	36.4
Extremely	52.6	52.3			35.8	34.1
How sympathetic
Not at all	1.5	2.3	5.80	.22	0.7	2.3	11.84	<.05
A little	9.3	18.2			5.6	13.6
Moderately	26.5	13.6			32.5	22.7
Very	37.7	36.4			42.2	27.3
Extremely	25.0	29.5			19.0	34.1
How difficult to treat
Not at all	0.00	2.3	8.79	.07	0.7	2.3	7.28	.12
A little	2.6	6.8			5.2	13.6
Moderately	17.2	13.6			47.0	31.8
Very	41.8	36.4			35.4	38.6
Extremely	38.4	40.9			11.6	13.6
Might not be too bad
Never	58.6	18.2	85.65	<.01	41.8	11.4	58.57	<.01
Rarely	22.8	9.1			31.3	18.2
Occasionally	16.0	34.1			20.9	29.5
Often	1.5	25.0			4.9	25.0
Always	1.1	13.6			1.1	15.9
Beneficial aspects
Definitely not	75.0	47.7	35.92	<.01	65.3	38.6	25.04	<.01
Possibly	14.9	11.4			19.4	22.7
Mixed feelings/yes and no	7.1	20.5			13.8	25.0
Probably	1.5	15.9			0.7	6.8
Definitely	1.5	4.5			0.7	6.8
How concerned?
Not at all	4.5	13.6	39.76	<.01	4.1	13.6	14.79	<.01
A little	7.1	22.7			9.0	15.9
Moderately	9.0	29.5			13.8	22.7
Very	21.3	11.4			34.7	29.5
Extremely	58.2	22.7			38.4	18.2
How happy?
Not at all	86.5	51.2	54.06	<.01	84.2	58.5	33.73	<.01
A little	11.2	19.5			12.3	19.5
Moderately	1.9	19.5			3.1	9.8
Very	0.4	2.4			0.4	7.3
Extremely	0.0	7.3			0.0	4.9
Make more popular
Definitely not	62.7	36.4	23.37	<.01	67.2	56.8	15.56	<.01
Possibly	20.9	22.7			17.9	27.3
Mixed feelings/yes and no	13.8	29.5			12.7	11.4
Probably	2.2	4.5			2.2	0.0
Definitely	0.4	6.8			0.0	4.5
Easier to fit in
Definitely not	53.7	40.9	10.26	<.05	52.2	38.6	3.06	.55
Possibly	25.0	22.7			20.9	25.0
Mixed feelings/yes and no	14.9	18.2			20.5	27.3
Probably	5.2	11.4			5.2	6.8
Definitely	1.1	6.8			1.1	2.3
Improve confidence/self‐esteem
Definitely not	71.9	38.6	23.76	<.01	79.1	50.0	29.58	<.01
Possibly	19.5	34.1			14.6	25.0
Mixed feelings/yes and no	7.1	18.2			5.2	13.6
Probably	1.1	6.8			1.1	6.8
Definitely	0.4	2.3			0.0	4.5

  ED = eating disorder.

Mond, J. M., Rodgers, B., Hay, P. et al. (2004). Disability associated with community cases of commonly occurring eating disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 28, 246–251.

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Mond, J. M., Hay, P. J., Rodgers, B., Owen, C., & Beumont, P. J. V. (2005). Assessing quality of life in eating disorder patients. Quality of Life Research, 14, 171–178.

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