INTRAETHNIC COMPARISON OF EATING ATTITUDES IN NATIVE KOREANS AND KOREAN AMERICANS USING A KOREAN TRANSLATION OF THE EATING ATTITUDES TEST

Although Asian samples have been studied using the Eating Attitudes Te st (EAT-26), the literature lacks data on Korean samples. Furthermore, although cross-cultural studies of eating disorders have been done, i ntraethnic studies are lacking. This study concerns an intraethnic Kor ean comparison of eating attitudes. The EAT-26 was translated into Kor ean and validated by back-translation and by a preliminary study on 32 bilingual (Korean and English-speaking) Korean women. The validated K orean translation was completed by a sample of 195 native South Korean s (NKs) and the original version by a sample of 39 Korean Americans (K As). EAT-26 scores seemed to indicate that the NKs had more disordered eating attitudes. Furthermore, the KAs appear to be a low-risk sample for eating disorders. Implications for further research are discussed .