Eating Attitudes in Adolescent Anorectic Patients

Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) scores gathered from 18 female adolescent anorectic patients with very early onset of the disease were compared with existing literature, and analyzed in terms of their relationships to clinical and background variables and other scales measuring anorectic behavior. Trans-cultural comparisons revealed that this sample of German patients had lower scores than Canadian, British, and Dutch samples of older age. The scores of the EAT were independent of denial of illness. Vomiters and lower-class patients had fewer abnormal scores. Therapeutic change between admission and discharge from inpatient treatment was reflected in improved EAT scores. A number of significant correlations with other scales measuring anorectic behavior were detected.