Table 2.
Means, Standard Deviations, and Score Ranges for the Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey (MEBS) Scales.
| MEBS Scales | Biological Siblings (n = 107) | Adoptive Siblings (n = 224) | Mean Comparisons | Levene’s Test of Variances |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M (SD) | Range | % ≥ cut-off |
α | M (SD) | Range | % ≥ cut-off |
α | t (329) | p | d | F (1, 329) | p | |
| Total Score (Possible score = 0–30) |
7.56 (6.17) |
0–28 | 11% | .90 | 7.07 (5.62) |
0–24 | 10% | .88 | −.73 | .47 | .08 | 1.22 | .27 |
| Weight Preoccupation (Possible score = 0–8) |
2.95 (2.58) |
0–8 | 12% | .84 | 2.65 (2.37) |
0–8 | 10% | .81 | .15 | .29 | .12 | 2.04 | .15 |
| Body Dissatisfaction (Possible score = 0–6) |
2.22 (2.00) |
0–6 | 29% | .79 | 1.83 (1.96) |
0–6 | 24% | .82 | −.68 | .09 | .20 | .39 | .54 |
| Binge Eating (Possible score = 0–7) |
1.40 (1.60) |
0–7 | 18% | .71 | 1.56 (1.55) |
0–7 | 20% | .67 | .85 | .40 | .10 | .03 | .87 |
| Compensatory Behavior (Possible score = 0–5) |
0.31 (0.79) |
0–5 | 8% | .67 | 0.35 (0.75) |
0–4 | 8% | .54 | .49 | .62 | .06 | .28 | .59 |
Note. MEBS = Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey; % ≥ cut-off = percent of siblings who scored above the clinical cut-offs on the MEBS scales (Cut-offs: Total Score = 15.55; Weight Preoccupation = 6.11; Body Dissatisfaction = 3.95; Binge Eating = 2.53; Compensatory Behaviors = 1.53); d = Cohen’s effect size for mean comparisons. Although log-transformed Binge Eating scores were used in analyses, raw values are listed here for descriptive purposes.