Binge Eating: An Investigation of Binge Eating Behavior in African-American and European-American Women
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Authors
Middlebrook, Marley M.
Issue Date
2005
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The prevalence of binge eating behavior in a nonclinical population of African-American and European-American women was examined using the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Binge Eating Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The investigation evaluated the presence of psychological factors which are commonly found in eating disorders. The participants filled out demographic information and two self-report measures. After separating the two ethnic groups by severity of behavior, a correlation analysis determined an equal presence of binge eating behavior in African-American and European-American women. Additionally, the Binge Eating Scale and the Bulimia subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory were correlated, which resulted in a strong relationship between the two behavioral measures. A multivariate analysis was applied to the remaining ten subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, the two levels of binge eating behavior, and the two ethnic identities. A significant interaction was found on the subscale of Maturity Fears. The African-American group did not differ in terms of binge eating behavior. However, the European-American group differed significantly by level. The moderate-to-severe group scored higher at a ratio of three to one over the no group. Hence, the level of behavior impacted the level of maturity fears within the European-American group only. A post hoc analysis of the combined ethnicities but separated binge-eating levels resulted in significant differences between six of the ten subscales.