Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of female adolescents with threshold and SBN, and age‐matched female healthy comparison participants
| BN (n = 28) | SBN (n = 16) | HC (n = 40) | Analysis | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | F(df) or χ2(df, n) | p |
| Age (years) | 18.0 (1.6) | 16.3 (2.2) | 17.0 (2.1) | F(2,81)=4.56 | .013a |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 21.6 (2.6) | 22.1 (2.0) | 21.7 (2.9) | F(2,81)=0.23 | .797 |
| Duration of illness (months) | 33.4 (22.1) | 18.9 (16.4) | F(1,42)=5.24 | .027 | |
| WAIS IQ score (Full) | 109.3 (11.3) | 105.9 (12.5) | 110.9 (15.0) | F(1,80)=0.74 | .481 |
| Eating Disorders Examination ratings | |||||
| OBEs (past 28 days) | 30.4 (24.0) | 3.9 (54.6) | F(2,42)=18.76 | <.001 | |
| Subjective bulimic episodes (past 28 days) | 21.8 (25.7) | 15.3 (14.9) | F(2,42)=0.86 | .358 | |
| Vomiting episodes (past 28 days) | 51.9 (45.6) | 19.1 (29.5) | F(2,42)=6.64 | .014 | |
| LOC (past 28 days) | 52.2 (36.1) | 19.1 (13.4) | F(2,42)=12.34 | .001 | |
| Prior AN (n/%) | 6/21.4 | 2/12.5 | χ2(1,44)=0.55 | .460 | |
| Comorbid MDD (n/%) | 8/28.6 | 4/25.0 | χ2(1,44)=0.07 | .798 | |
| Comorbid Anxiety (n/%) | 2/7.1 | 5/31.2 | χ2(1,44)=4.42 | .035b | |
| SSRIs use (n/%) | 5/17.8 | 5/31.2 | χ2(1,44)=1.04 | .308 | |
| Treatment | |||||
| Inpatient (n/%) | 10/35.7 | 2/12.5 | χ2(1,44)=2.77 | .096 | |
| Outpatient (n/%) | 5/17.9 | 6/37.5 | χ2(1,44)=2.10 | .148 | |
a
Post‐hoc analyses revealed that a significant difference in age between BN and SBN (p < .05) but not between HC and any of the clinical samples (ps > .05).
b
More SBN than BN adolescents had comorbid anxiety diagnoses, likely due to our relaxed inclusion criteria given the difficulty recruiting younger, less severely ill adolescents with eating disorders.
Abbreviations: AN = Anorexia Nervosa; BN = Bulimia Nervosa; HC = healthy control; MDD = major depressive disorder; SBN = subthreshold Bulimia Nervosa; SSRIs = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; WAIS = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.