Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:12:31.810Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sociocultural Correlates of Eating Disorders among Asian Schoolgirls in Bradford

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David B. Mumford ,
Andrew M. Whitehouse  and
Margaret Platts
David B. Mumford
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Leeds, 15 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LT, formerly at the Transcultural Psychiatry Unit, Lynfield Mount Hospital, Bradford
Andrew M. Whitehouse*
Affiliation:
Carlton Hayes Hospital, Narborough, Leicestershire, formerly Clinical Lecturer, University Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge
Margaret Platts
Affiliation:
Greenhead Grammar School, Keighley
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A survey of 204 south-Asian and 355 Caucasian schoolgirls was conducted in Bradford using the EAT-26 and the BSQ. At interview, seven Asian girls and two Caucasian girls met DSM–III—R criteria for bulimia nervosa, yielding a prevalence of 3.4% and 0.6% respectively. One Asian girl met DSM–III–R criteria for anorexia nervosa. Factor analyses of the EAT and BSQ supported their cross-cultural conceptual equivalence in this south-Asian population. Among the Asians, high EAT and BSQ scores were associated with a more traditional cultural orientation and not with greater Westernisation. It is probable that these findings reflect the cultural and familial difficulties faced by these Asian girls growing up in Britain.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 158 , Issue 2 , February 1991 , pp. 222 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Berry, J. W. (1988) Acculturation and psychological adaptation among refugees. In Refugees – The Trauma of Exile (ed. Miserez, D.). Geneva: League of the Red Cross/Netherlands: Martinez Nijhoof.Google Scholar
Brislin, R. W. Lonner, W. J. & Thorndike, R. M. (1973) Factor analysis. In Cross-cultural Research Methods. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Buchan, T. & Gregory, L. D. (1984) Anorexia nervosa in a black Zimbabwean. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 326–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhrich, N. (1981) Frequency of presentation of anorexia nervosa in Malaysia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 15, 153–155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burke, A. W. (1976) Attempted suicide among Asian immigrants in Birmingham. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 528–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattell, R. B. (1966) The meaning and strategic use of factor analysis. In Handbook of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (ed. Cattell, R. B.). Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J. Taylor, M. J. Cooper, Z. et al (1987) The development and validation of the Body Shape Questionnaire. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 4, 485–494.3.0.CO;2-O>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Z. & Fairburn, C. G. (1987) The Eating Disorder Examination: a semi-structured interview for the assessment of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 6, 1–8.3.0.CO;2-9>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, A. H. Palmer, R. L. & Kalucy, R. S. (1976) How common is anorexia nervosa? A prevalence study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 549–554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El-Islam, M. F. (1983) Cultural change and intergenerational relationships in Arabian families. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 4, 321–329.Google Scholar
El-Islam, M. F. Abu-Dagga, S. I. Malasi, T. H. et al (1986) Intergenerational conflict and psychiatric symptoms. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 300–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El-Islam, M. F. Malasi, T. H. & Abu-Dagga, S. I. (1988) Interparental differences in attitudes to cultural changes in Kuwait. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 23,109–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnham, A. & Alibhai, N. (1983) Cross-cultural differences in the perception of female body shape. Psychological Medicine, 13, 829–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garner, D. M. & Garfinkel, P. E. (1979) The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 273–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garner, D. M. Olmsted, M. P. Bohr, Y. et al (1982) The Eating Attitudes Test; psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12, 871–878.Google Scholar
Hedbolm, J. E. Hubbard, F. A. & Andersen, A. E. (1981) Anorexia nervosa: a multi-disciplinary treatment program for patient and family. Social Work in Health Care, 7, 67–83.Google Scholar
Holden, N. L. & Robinson, P. H. (1988) Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in British blacks. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 544–549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Irvine, S. H. & Carroll, W. K. (1980) Testing and assessment across cultures: issues in methodology and theory. In Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology, Volume 2: Methodology (ed. Triandis, H. C. & Berry, J. W.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Johnson-Sabine, E. Wood, K. Patton, G. et al (1988) Abnormal eating attitudes in London schoolgirls – a prospective epidemiological study: factors associated with abnormal response on screening questionnaires. Psychological Medicine, 18, 615–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, D. J. Fox, M. M. Babigan, H. M. et al (1980) Epidemiology of anorexia nervosa in Monroe County, New York: 1960–1976. Psychosomatic Medicine, 42, 551–558.Google Scholar
Kendell, R. E. Hall, D. J. Hailey, A. et al (1973) The epidemiology of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 2, 200–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacey, J. H. & Dolan, B. M. (1988) Bulimia in British blacks and Asians. A catchment area study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 73–79.Google Scholar
Lee, S. Chiu, H. F. K. & Chen, C. (1989) Anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. Why not more in Chinese? British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 683–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipsedge, M. (1989) Cultural influences on psychiatry. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 2, 267–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merrill, J. & Owens, J. (1986) Ethnic differences in self-poisoning: a comparison of Asian and white groups. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 708–712.Google Scholar
Mumford, D. B. & Whitehouse, A. M. (1988) Increased prevalence of bulimia nervosa among Asian schoolgirls. British Medical Journal, 297, 718.Google Scholar
Nasser, M. (1986) Comparative study of the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes among Arab female students of both London and Cairo Universities. Psychological Medicine, 16, 621–625.Google Scholar
Nasser, M. (1988) Eating disorders: the cultural dimension. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 23, 184–187.Google Scholar
Nwaefuna, A. (1981) Anorexia nervosa in a developing country. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 270–271.Google Scholar
Pumariega, A. J. (1986) Acculturation and eating attitudes in adolescent girls: a comparative and correlational study. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 276–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pumariega, A. J. Edwards, P. & Mitchell, C. B. (1984) Anorexia nervosa in black adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 111–114.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. & Andersen, A. (1985) Anorexia nervosa in American blacks. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 19, 183–188.Google Scholar
Steinhausen, H. (1984) Transcultural comparison of eating attitudes in young females and anorectic patients. European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Science, 234, 198–201.Google Scholar
Steinhausen, H. (1985) Anorexia nervosa: transcultural comparisons. Pediatrician, 12, 157–163.Google Scholar
Suematsu, H. Ishikawa, H. & Inaba, Y. (1986) Epidemiological studies on anorexia nervosa. Shinshin-Igaku (Psychosomatic Medicine), 26, 53–58.Google Scholar
Szmukler, G. I. (1983) Weight and food preoccupation in a population of English schoolgirls. In Understanding Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia (ed. Bargman, G. J.). Ohio: Ross Laboratories.Google Scholar
Taylor, M. J. (1987) The nature and significance of body image disturbance. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Thomas, J. P. & Szmukler, G. I. (1985) Anorexia nervosa in patients of Afro-Caribbean extraction. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 653–656.Google Scholar
Warren, M. P. & Van de Wiele, R. L. (1973) Clinical and metabolic features of anorexia nervosa. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 117, 435–449.Google Scholar
Wells, J. E. Cooper, P. J. Gabb, D. C. et al (1985) The factor structure of the Eating Attitude Test with adolescent schoolgirls. Psychological Medicine, 15, 141–146.Google Scholar
Whitehouse, A. M. & Button, E. J. (1988) The prevalence of eating disorders in a UK college population: a reclassification of an earlier study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 7, 393–397.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.