Symptoms of disordered eating, body shape, and mood concerns in male and female Chinese medical students
published online 11 January 2010.
Abstract
Objective
This cross-sectional study explored the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes, body shape concerns, and social anxiety and depressive symptoms in male and female medical students in China.
Method
Four hundred eighty-seven students from Central South University (Hunan Province, Changsha City, China) completed the following self-report measures: Eating Attitudes Test-26, Eating Disorders Assessment Questionnaire, Body Shape Questionnaire, Swansea Muscularity Attitudes Questionnaire, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and the Self-Rating Depression Scale.
Results
A comparatively lower rate of at-risk eating attitudes (2.5%) and eating disorders (0.90%) were found compared to those reported in other studies. Significantly more female (3.2%) than male (1.2%) students had abnormal eating attitudes with 4 female students meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria for bulimia nervosa. Significant relationships were observed between eating attitudes, body shape concern, social anxiety, depression, and body mass index. For females, the most significant correlate of distorted eating attitudes was body shape concern, whereas for male students, social anxiety and concern with muscle size and shape were most strongly correlated with distorted eating attitudes.
aMental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, China
dDepartment of Psychiatry, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
Corresponding authors. Tieqiao Liu is to be contacted at Institute of Mental Health, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha Hunan 410011, PR China. Natalie P. Knoesen, St Vincent's Mental Health, Melbourne and the University of Melbourne, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia.
Funding for this study was provided by the Natural Science Foundation of China, grant no. 30870893 and 30900486, and the National Key Basic Research and Development Program (973), grant no. 2006CB500808 and 2007CB512301.
ABSTRACT