WEIGHT CONCERNS INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF EATING DISORDERS - A 4-YEAR PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

The authors examined factors prospectively associated with age of onse t of partial syndrome eating disorders over a 4-year interval in a com munity sample (N = 877) of high school-age adolescent girls. Four perc ent developed a partial syndrome eating disorder over the interval. A measure of weight concerns was significantly associated with onset in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis (p < .001). Girls scor ing in the highest quartile on the measure of weight concerns had the highest incidence (10%) of partial syndrome onset, whereas none of the girls in the lowest quartile developed eating disorder symptoms. This finding is consistent with both theoretical and clinical perspectives and may represent a useful step toward the establishment of a rationa l basis for the choice of a prevention intervention target.