Purpose: To study associations between binge/purge and weight loss behavior
s and "developmental assets" among adolescent girls and boys.
Methods: The Search Institute's Profile of Student Life: Attitudes and Beha
viors self-report questionnaire was administered to 48,264 girls and 47,131
boys in grades 6 through 12 at schools in 213 cities or towns across the U
nited States. The 156-item questionnaire measured 40 "developmental assets,
" or protective factors associated with successful adolescent development.
Developmental assets were examined using multiple logistic regression among
students who reported binge/purge behaviors, weight loss behavior, both, o
r neither.
Results: Developmental assets related to positive identity were the stronge
st discriminators of binge/purge and weight loss behaviors in both girls an
d boys. Girls who reported binge/purge and weight loss behaviors were about
half as likely to report feeling a sense of purpose [odds ratio (OR) = 0.4
5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.40, 0.50] and high self-esteem (OR = 0.
55, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.61), compared with girls not reporting either of these
behaviors. Among boys the ORs were: sense of purpose OR = 0.53 (95% CI = 0
.46, 0.61) and self-esteem OR = 0.76 (95% CI = 0.65, 0.88). Assets related
to values about abstinence from alcohol, drugs, or sex ("restraint") were a
lso significant correlates. Girls and boys who reported these values were l
ess likely to report binge/purge and weight loss behaviors, compared with t
hose who did not report these values (girls: OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.50, 0.63
; boys: OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.70, 0.97).
Conclusions: Internal assets such as self-esteem, sense of purpose, and val
ues related to abstinence from alcohol and sex appear to be protective agai
nst unhealthy eating behaviors and may reflect a general resilience that bu
ffers against a broad range of health risk behaviors. (C) Society for Adole
scent Medicine, 2001.