Disordered eating in adolescent males from a school-based sample

Abstract

Objective: The authors sought to describe a sample of adolescent males who reported disordered eating, to explore whether males with disordered eating are overweight or obese, and to determine if patterns displayed by females would be replicated with a male sample.

Method: Three school-based adolescent samples were selected. (1) 27 males reporting disordered eating (2) 27 physically matched controls, and (3) 27 randomly selected controls.

Results: Findings indicated that boys reporting disordered eating expressed greater body dissatisfaction, depression, restraint, and poorer interoceptive awareness compared to matched and randomly selected controls. Negative Emotionality and poor Interoceptive Awareness scores showed the strongest associations with eating pathology. Body mass index and Negative Emotionality scores showed the strongest relationships to restrained eating.

Discussion: Previous results for female adolescents were replicated, suggesting that findings for females can be generalized to males. Disordered eating appears to exist in the absence of significant weight problems in adolescent males.