Teens' Eating Disorders Signal Other Psych Problems

March 8, 2011— -- Teens have eating disorders at rates only slightly lower than adults -- and most teens with the problem have at least one other psychiatric condition, including suicidal thoughts, researchers reported.

But while a majority of teens do appear to be willing to seek help for psychological comorbidities, they do not appear to be receiving treatment specifically for the eating disorder, according to Kathleen Merikangas of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md.

Merikangas and colleagues reported the findings online in Archives of General Psychiatry.

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Studies of adults suggest that the rates of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa range from 0.5-1.0 percent and from 0.5-3.0 percent, respectively, the researchers noted.

So-called "eating disorder not otherwise specified" -- which includes binge eating -- tends to be more frequently diagnosed in clinical settings among adults, Merikangas and colleagues noted.

On the other hand, they added, little is known about the prevalence or correlates of these disorders among adolescents.

So the research team turned to the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement, which involved face-to-face interviews with a nationally-representative sample of 10,123 adolescents, ages 13 through 18.

The investigators examined the prevalence of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, defined according to diagnostic criteria found in the DSM-IV, as well as broader "sub-threshold" anorexia and binge eating categories.

Interestingly, there were no sex differences in anorexia or in sub-threshold binge eating, while girls were more likely to report bulimia, binge eating, and sub-threshold anorexia, the researchers reported.