EATING BEHAVIOR, WEIGHT STATUS AND DEPRESSIVE FEELINGS IN FEMALE ADOLESCENTS

The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes towards food and ea ting, body image, mood feelings and relationships in family and peer g roup in female adolescents with varying weight status in an. attempt t o explore whether a relationship between emotional difficulties and bo dy weight could be found. The data on use of 81 item measure of emotio nal difficulties and behavioural symptoms related to eating disorders and dieting in. female adolescents aged 15 to 19 years and group of ea ting disorder patients are reported. The findings suggest that the ado lescents who by self-reported weight value appear to be relatively ove rweight and eating disorder patients score significantly higher on a b ody dissatisfaction subscale of the applied questionnaire than normal weight and underweight adolescents. Only in. the clinical sample of ea ting disorder patients, however difficulties in dealing with depressiv e feelings and fear of poor impulse control were present.