A cross-cultural study of disordered eating attitudes among Filipino and Caucasian Americans

The present study examines the symptom levels of eating disorders among Filipino and Caucasian college students residing in Hawaii. The study also examines what variables are associated with disordered eating. A self-report questionnaire that included measures of anger discomfort, self-dissatisfaction, body dissatisfaction, and symptoms of eating disorders was administered to Filipino and Caucasian college students. As predicted, females reported higher eating disorder symptom scores than males. However, Filipino males reported higher levels of disordered eating, dieting, and body dissatisfaction than Caucasian males. No association was found between disordered eating and anger discomfort among Filipinos. The results support previous findings of females reporting higher disordered eating attitudes than males, however, Filipino males reported higher disordered attitudes than Caucasian males. Anger discomfort was not associated with disordered eating among Filipinos, supporting past studies that suggest anger management may not be an appropriate treatment for disordered eating among some Asian groups.