The prevalence of eating disorders in university students and psychosociocultural predictors: İstanbul sample

Eating disorders (EDs) is a serious psychiatric disorder based on the interaction of biological, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental factors. It is argued that individuals are at risk for ED as of adolescence. This study examined ED point prevalence among university students and how the eating disorder was differentiated and similar in terms of psychosociocultural variables of the participants who were divided into different eating groups. The research sample consisted of 1876 students between the ages of 18-25 who enrolled from the universities in Istanbul. A sociodemographic form, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Body Image Satisfaction Questionnaire (BISQ), Single Item Self Esteem Scale (SISES), Social Comparison through Physical Appearance Scale (SCPAS) were used in the present study. Also Eating Disorder Assessment for DSM-5 was conducted to the individuals determined to be in the risk group for ED. The results showed that the point prevalence of ED was 1.55% (n = 27 females, 2 males). (Anorexia Nervosa (AN): 0.16%; Bulimia Nervosa (BN): 0.11%; Binge Eating Disorder: (BED) 0.21%; Atypical AN: 0.05%; Sub-threshold BN: 0.32%; Sub-threshold BED: 0.48%; Unspecified Feeding and Eating Disorder (UFED): 0.21%). Male students were only diagnosed with sub-threshold BED and UFED. Moreover, it was defined that the diagnosed participants' number of accounts related to bodily appearance that they were following from the applications like Instagram and Facebook, and EDE-Q's scores were higher than participants' who have distorted eating pattern but had no diagnosis, healthy eating pattern, and the scores of BISQ, SCPAS, and SISES were lower. In this study, it has been determined that the increase in the rate of EDs in university students was consistent with the literature. Besides, it is thought that the results related to the difference between the diagnosed and undiagnosed groups of psychosociocultural risk factors, which are known to be associated with impaired eating behavior, may lead to preventive studies to be conducted with these groups. Keywords: Eating disorders, epidemiology, point prevalence, university students, psychosocyocultural factors