Eating Disorders in College Freshman Women

            
             The researchers decided to do this study because even though eating disorders are known to happen a lot in college women very little longitudinal studies have been completed.
             Hypothesis: .
             The researchers hypothesize that unique demands and stressors that late adolescents face in making the transition to college would increase the likelihood of disordered eating behaviors that college women experience in their first year on campus. .
             Independent and dependent variables: .
             The dependent variable is eating pathology, which was measured by the restraint and bulimia scales. The independent variable is the number of times the participants to the questionnaires. Some took both the first test and the test seven months later. Some only took the first.
             Subjects and methods: .
             The subjects were 225 college freshman women. 86% of the women were 18 years old and 95% were white. This was a longitudinal study. The methods included several tests. The tests were administered in a group setting and given in a seven-month interval. The Bulimia Scale was used to assess the tendencies to think about and/or engage in uncontrollable eating. The Figure Dissatisfaction test had the participants choose images of what they thought they looked like and what they would rather look like. The profile of mood tested for anger, depression, confusion, fatigue, and tension. The situational appetite measure asked questions about the participants" ability to resist urges of overeating when variables such as relaxation, hunger, and negative feelings were involved. There was also to questionnaires about alcohol use and abuse given. They included questions such as the number of drinks consumed in a week and how often they drove drunk and drank alone.
             Results and conclusions:.
             The bulimia score was significantly associated with the body mass index. Women who scored higher on bulimia tended to have high scores on figure dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, public self-consciousness, and low levels of self-efficacy to control eating habits when negative feelings were involved.