Quality of life in relation to psychosocial risk variables for eating disorders in women and men

This study examined health-related quality of life in relation to psychosocial variables associated with eating disorders. A sample of 266 women and 114 men from a Midwestern university completed questionnaires asking about both generic and eating disorder-specific health-related quality of life, as well as body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, internalization of sociocultural ideals, and restrained eating. Results revealed that women reported significantly higher levels of psychosocial risk variables than men. In addition, for women, all but one of the psychosocial risk variables was found to be associated with lower quality of life. Gender moderated the relationship between quality of life and objectified body consciousness, but not the other psychosocial risk variables. Finally, comparisons between a generic and an eating disorder-specific quality of life scale revealed that the eating disorder-specific scale had higher sensitivity for use in a college student population. These results suggest that women who are at higher risk for developing an eating disorder suffer from lower quality of life, and that eating disorder-specific quality of life scales are useful in understanding women and men in a general population.

Research Highlights
► Gender differences were observed on levels of psychosocial risk variables.
► Lower quality of life was observed for women with high levels of psychosocial risk.
► Eating-disorder quality of life had greater sensitivity in college women and men.