ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Identifying college athletes at risk for pathogenic eating

M T DePalma¹, W M Koszewski², W Romani³, J G Case⁴, N J Zuiderhof³, P M McCoy³

¹ Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA
² University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, NE, USA
³ University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
⁴ Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr DePalma, Department of Psychology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA;
depalma{at}ithaca.edu

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a discriminant function that predicts risk of pathogenic eating in comparison with a standard self report measure (EAT) and a clinical interview. In addition, to determine the effectiveness of this discriminant function using a variety of collegiate athletes.

Methods: A total of 319 participants were asked to complete a series of self report measures that assessed dietary practices. In addition, anthropometric measures were obtained, and a random sample of 15% participated in a structured clinical interview.

Results: Correlational analyses indicated that the discriminant function categorisation of risk was significantly related to both the clinical interview and EAT (p0.05). The discriminant function was accurate in predicting risk category in this diverse group of athletes, particularly with respect to those at low risk (83.1%) and those at high risk (72.7%).

Conclusion: This information may be helpful in the development of a simple, accessible tool to identify athletes at risk of engaging in pathogenic eating behaviours.

Keywords: athletes; psychological tests; nutrition; eating disorders

Abbreviations: DSED, Diagnostic Survey of Eating Disorders; EAT, Eating Attitudes Test; SEDA, Survey of Eating Disorders Among Athletes; RI, risk index

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