PREDICTORS OF EATING DISORDER RISK IN ANOREXIA NERVOSA ADOLESCENTS

SUMMARY – The purpose of the present study was to examine the association among the risk of eating disorder (ED), psychological adjustment, empathy, attachment style and thin-ideal internalization among adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), as compared to a healthy control (HC) group. The Questionnaire of General Data, the Eating Disorders Inventory-3 (EDI-3), the Questionnaire of Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance-3 (SATAQ-3), the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) and the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) were administered to 35 female adolescents with AN and 35 HC adolescents. Eating disorder risk was found to be highest in AN females with higher levels of general psychological maladjustment (GPMC), followed by HC females with higher thin-ideal internalization. In the AN group, attachment style and thin-ideal internalization in combination with GPMC were not indicated as significant predictors of eating disorder risk. Study data provide support to conceptualizations of EDs that emphasize the role of general psychological maladjustment in the development of EDs.