Eating disorders and suicide risk factors in adolescents: an Italian community-based study

In a mixed male-female sample of 1000 adolescents age 15 to 19 years in a northeastern area of Italy, we investigated the links between eating disorders and suicidal tendencies by means of self-compiled measures, including the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), the Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh (BITE), the Body Attitudes Test (BAT), and the SCL-90-R. More females than males reported abnormal eating patterns suggesting eating disorders: we found that 100 females (15.8%) and 8 males (2.8%) achieved scores above the suggested cutoff on EAT (cutoff = 30), 26 females (4.1%) and 1 male (.3%) achieved scores above the suggested cutoff on BITE (cutoff = 20), and 287 females (45.5%) and 24 males (8.6%) achieved scores above the suggested cutoff on BAT (cutoff = 36). More females than males also reported symptoms of hopelessness (44.3% vs. 30.5%) and suicidal ideation (30.8% vs. 25.3%). Both males and females reporting suicidal ideation achieved significantly higher scores on the eating disorders inventories, with no independent contribution by age, socioeconomic status, or body mass index. Although caution is required when drawing conclusions from self-reported measures, studies on mood disorders and suicidality in youth clearly need to include measures of eating disorders.