Prevalence and risk factors of eating disorders in Greek undergraduate students

Abstract

Aims

To estimate the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) and associated risk factors in a sample of undergraduate students.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study. We used a questionnaire consisting of the following sections: demographics, SCOFF questionnaire for screening EDs, the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). Our sample was selected randomly. Sample size was 535 students (44% men, 56% women), and 33% of students were between 18 and 20 years old (age range 16–28).

Results

SCOFF's reliability measured by Cronbach's alpha was 0.542; AAT's alpha for its facilitating scale was 0.682 and debilitating scale 0.821; finally, DASS's depression, anxiety and stress sections’ alpha were 0.923, 0.896 and 0.876 respectively. The prevalence of EDs was 42.2%. The associated factors with the presence of EDs was gender (62% women, 38% men; X² = 5.007, p = 0.025) and personal family status (X² = 18.862, p = 0.002), while having divorced parents was a borderline association (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 0.97–2.42). Mann-Whitney’s U test showed that there was a significant difference in the scale of stress between those with an ED and those without (p = 0.026) but not for depression and anxiety. According to multiple logistic regression, risk factors for having an eating disorder were depression, stress, female gender, being married and searching for a romantic relationship (overall model fit p < 0.0001).

Conclusion

This is the first study on EDs from Greece. Depression and stress were significant predictors of EDs, which shows the importance of these two factors in the pathogenesis of EDs.