Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T09:57:18.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Prevalence of Bulimia Nervosa

A Replication Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Peter J. Cooper*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
Deborah J. Charnock
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
Melanie J. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
*
University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ

Abstract

There have been reports of a high prevalence of bulimic episodes and the syndromes of bulimia nervosa and DSM-III bulimia in community samples. A group of American authors recently compared the findings of a contemporary survey with those of a survey they had conducted previously and reported a three-fold increase in the prevalence of DSM-III bulimia. The present study replicates a community survey conducted four years ago in Britain. The prevalence of bulimic episodes, self-induced vomiting and bulimia nervosa found in the present survey was very similar to that found in the earlier study.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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 (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM-III). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J. & Fairburn, C. G. (1983) Binge eating and self-induced vomiting in the community: a preliminary study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 139144.Google Scholar
Fairburn, C. G. & Cooper, P. J. (1984) The clinical features of bulimia nervosa. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 238246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garner, D. M. & Garfinkel, P. E. (1979) The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 273279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halmi, K. A., Falk, J. R. & Schwartz, E. (1981) Binge-eating and vomiting: a survey of a college population. Psychological Medicine, 11, 697706.Google Scholar
Hart, K. J. & Ollendick, T. H. (1985) Prevalence of bulimia in working and university women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 851854.Google ScholarPubMed
Johnson, C., Lewis, C., Love, S., Lewis, L. & Stuckey, M. (1984) Incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior in a female high school population. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13, 1526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagelberg, D. B., Hale, S. L. & Ware, S. L. (1984) The assessment of bulimic symptoms and personality correlates in female college students. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 440445.3.0.CO;2-U>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pope, H. G., Hudson, J. I., Yurgelun-Todd, D. & Hudson, M. S. (1984) Prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in three student populations. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 3, 4551.Google Scholar
Pyle, R. L., Mitchell, J. E., Eckert, E. D., Halvorson, P. A., Neuman, P. A. & Goff, G. M. (1983) The incidence of bulimia in freshman college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 7585.Google Scholar
Pyle, R. L., Halvorson, P. A., Neuman, P. A. & Mitchell, J. E. (1986) The increasing prevalence of bulimia in freshman college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 631647.Google Scholar
Russell, G. F. M. (1979) Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 429448.Google Scholar
Russell, G. F. M. (1985) Bulimia revisited. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 4, 681692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.