RESUMO
The authors examined factors prospectively associated with age of onset of partial syndrome eating disorders over a 4-year interval in a community sample (N = 877) of high school-age adolescent girls. Four percent developed a partial syndrome eating disorder over the interval. A measure of weight concerns was significantly associated with onset in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis (p < .001). Girls scoring in the highest quartile on the measure of weight concerns had the highest incidence (10%) of partial syndrome onset, whereas none of the girls in the lowest quartile developed eating disorder symptoms. This finding is consistent with both theoretical and clinical perspectives and may represent a useful step toward the establishment of a rational basis for the choice of a prevention intervention target.
Assuntos
Imagem Corporal , Peso Corporal , Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos/psicologia , Inventário de Personalidade , Adolescente , Anorexia Nervosa/diagnóstico , Anorexia Nervosa/prevenção & controle , Anorexia Nervosa/psicologia , Bulimia/diagnóstico , Bulimia/prevenção & controle , Bulimia/psicologia , Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos/diagnóstico , Transtornos da Alimentação e da Ingestão de Alimentos/prevenção & controle , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Estudos Prospectivos , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
Recent reviews of studies concerning panic attacks in adolescents have emphasized research limitations, noting problems of validity, reliability, and lack of normative data. To address some of these limitations we evaluated two methods of panic ascertainment (questionnaire versus interview), reliability of interview-determined panic, and clinical correlates of panic symptoms in a large sample (N = 1013) of early adolescent girls. The 5.4% of the sample who, when interviewed, reported ever experiencing a panic attack scored significantly higher on measures of depression, anxiety sensitivity, and alcohol use, but were not more avoidant than others. Using the interview as the standard, the questionnaire had a specificity of 81% and a sensitivity of 72%. Adolescents do experience panic attacks-whether identified by questionnaire or interview-although for many the attacks may not be salient. Longitudinal studies are required to determine those qualities of nonclinical panic (severity, context, interpretation/attribution), which render some episodes as clinically meaningful.