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Onset of dieting in childhood and adolescence: implications for personality, psychopathology, eating attitudes and behaviors of women with eating disorder

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the MMPI-2 and EDI-2 scores of 205 Korean women with eating disorders to identify difference between early and adulthood onset of dieting groups.

Methods

101 women had started dieting in their childhood to adolescence (EARLYdieting group) and 104 had started dieting in their adulthood (ADULTdieting group).

Results

Both of the MMPI-2 and EDI-2 scores were significantly different between the two groups before and after adjusting for the duration since the onset of eating disorder. EARLYdieting group scored higher in the MMPI-2 clinical scales 1, 3, 0 and the EDI-2 bulimia scale. EARLYdieting group tended to use a more varied dieting strategy.

Conclusions

The findings suggested that starting to diet early in life may be related to more severe psychopathology and dieting behaviors in adulthood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50-1, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Republic of Korea

    Young In Chung, Jin Kyoung Kim & Young-Chul Jung

  2. Yonsei L Eating Disorder Clinic, Severance Hospital, Yonsei-ro 50-1, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Republic of Korea

    Jung-Hyun Lee & Young-Chul Jung

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50-1, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Republic of Korea

    Young-Chul Jung

Authors
  1. Young In Chung
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  2. Jin Kyoung Kim
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Correspondence to Young-Chul Jung.

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Funding

Research was supported by a Grant from Yonsei University College of Medicine (6-2014-0142).

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 1, 2 and 3 and Figs. 1 and 2.

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Chung, Y.I., Kim, J.K., Lee, JH. et al. Onset of dieting in childhood and adolescence: implications for personality, psychopathology, eating attitudes and behaviors of women with eating disorder. Eat Weight Disord 22, 491–497 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0285-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0285-5

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