Self-figure drawings in women with anorexia, bulimia, overweight, and normal weight A possible tool for assessment

Eating disorders (ED) are an increasing problem in children and young adolescents This paper examines the use of self-figure drawing in the assessment of eating disorders We combined the use of self-figure drawing as a short and non-intrusive tool with the administration of previously validated questionnaires (EAT-26 and the BSQ) Seventy-six women (thirty-six were diagnosed as having eating disorders according to DSM-IV criteria either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa 20 were overweight 20 had no eating disorders and were of normal weight) were recruited for this study Objective and quantifiable methods of assessment in analysis of the self-figure drawing were used The results indicated that self-figure drawing scores were clearly differentiated among groups The results also indicated significantly high correlation between the self-figure drawing and the two validated psychometric assessments of eating disorders The findings implications and possible interpretations are discussed Findings indicate that using self-figure drawing as a tool to assess ED or a tendency to develop ED would be valuable for practitioners (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved