Brief report: Correlates of inpatient psychiatric admission in children and adolescents with eating disorders

ObjectiveTo examine the prevalence and importance of psychological, behavioural, and situational correlates of impending psychiatric inpatient admissions in children and adolescents with eating disorders.MethodThe sample consisted of 285 patients (8–17 years, M = 14.4, SD = 1.49) with DSM-5 eating disorders assessed between 2006 and 2013 from the Helping to Outline Pediatric Eating Disorders (HOPE) Project. The sample was split into two groups, those with (n = 38) and without (n = 247) impending psychiatric admission; Discriminant function analysis was used to examine correlates.ResultsThe prevalence of impending psychiatric admission was 13.3%. Suicidal ideation provided the greatest discriminating power, followed by eating pathology, depressive symptoms, anxiety, multiple methods of weight control, binge eating, and family functioning.ConclusionsEarlier recognition of comorbid symptoms in eating disorders in the community may reduce the number of young people with eating disorders who present needing critical psychiatric care.