Eating disorders and aggressiveness among adolescents

To explore the links between propensity to aggression and eating disorders in a sample of school-aged adolescents in a northeastern area of Italy.

In a mixed male-female sample of 1000 adolescents (10% of the district's population aged 15-19 years) we administered the Eating Attitudes Test, the Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh and the Body Attitudes Test, as measures of abnormal eating attitudes and behaviours, and the Aggression Questionnaire, as a measure of the propensity to aggression.

Females scored significantly higher than males at all eating disorders inventories (P < 0.0001). Males scored higher than females at the Aggression Questionnaire. In both genders, there was a positive correlation between scores at any of the eating disorders inventories and those at the Aggression Questionnaire (P < 0.0001).

Overtly expressed aggression might have a negative impact on the course of eating disorders and on the compliance with treatment, also enhancing the risk of suicide.