TABLE 1.

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Female Adolescents With Bulimia Nervosa and Age-Matched Female Healthy Comparison Subjects

Characteristic	Bulimia Nervosa Adolescentsa (N=18)		Healthy Comparison Adolescents (N=18)		Analysis
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	df	p
Age (years)	18.4	2.1	17.3	2.4	−1.36	34	0.18
Height (inches)	64.78	2.7	64.29	2.4	−0.56	34	0.57
Weight (lbs)	130.45	16.7	128.72	19.1	−0.28	34	0.77
Body mass index (kg/m2)	22.03	2.0	21.98	1.9	−0.67	34	0.23
Duration of illness (years)	2.83	1.7
Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence IQ score
Full-4	112.33	10.7	115.77	14.4	−0.81	34	0.42
Verbal	112.0	14.0	120.0	17.5	−1.51	34	0.14
Performance	109.94	9.2	108.5	11.4	0.41	34	0.68
Eating Disorders Examination ratings
Objective bulimic episodes (past 28 days)	39.83	54.6
Vomiting episodes (past 28 days)	62.29	74.7
Preoccupation with body shape and weight	2.4	2.5
HAM-D scoreb	5.75	5.7	0.88	1.2	2.47	19	0.02
Children’s Depression Rating Scale score	37	15.7	17.5	1.1	3.57	11	0.00
BDI score	15.47	12.19	1.5	2.4	4.76	33	0.00
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ratings
Total current	16.13	10.7	4.78	3.1	4.32	34	0.00
Inattention	9.73	4.6	2.0	1.8	6.48	34	0.00
Hyperactivity	7.5	6.5	2.5	2.1	3.08	34	0.00

^aIn the bulimia nervosa group, three participants had a history of anorexia nervosa (16%), four were receiving medication treatment (22%), and four presented with subclinical bulimia nervosa (22%); among those presenting with subclinical symptoms, three experienced less than three objective binge eating episodes and one experienced less than three vomiting episodes per week over the past 28 days prior to participation in the study.

^bHAM-D scores were available for 12 adolescents with bulimia nervosa and nine healthy comparison subjects, and Children’s Depression Rating Scale scores were available for five adolescents with bulimia nervosa and five healthy comparison subjects.