Psychosocial Characteristics in Relation to Disordered Eating Attitudes in Greek Adolescents

The study explores possible links between eating attitudes in Greek adolescents and certain psychosocial characteristics such as self-esteem, empathy and anxiety. A total of 202 students (109 boys and 93 girls), 15-18 years old, have been recruited. The following questionnaires were used: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents, the Multidimensional Body-Self-Questionnaire-Overweight Preoccupation and the Index of Empathy of Children and Adolescents. The EAT-26 revealed that 18.3% of the total sample of students (12.8% of boys and 24.7% of girls) reported having disordered eating attitudes. Adolescents with disordered eating attitudes had significantly higher levels of anxiety and scored less in self-reported physical appearance and romantic appeal. Empathy and global self-esteem did not differ significantly between the two groups. Adolescents with disordered eating attitudes have certain psychosocial characteristics which differentiate them from the students with healthier eating attitudes. Copyright (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.