The use of the Pros and Cons of Anorexia Nervosa (P-CAN) Scale with children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
The Pros and Cons of Anorexia Nervosa (P-CAN) Scale was developed out of a previous qualitative study [Int J Eat Disord 25 (1999) 177] in which the positive and negative aspects of anorexia nervosa (AN) were elicited from individuals with AN. Principal components analysis was then used in an adult sample to reduce the number of items and to derive empirically and theoretically based subscales [Serpell et al., submitted]. The aim of the current study was to validate the P-CAN in children and adolescents with AN and compare the pros and cons of young people with AN with those of adults.


METHODS
Forty-eight young people with AN completed the P-CAN and the Eating Disorders Examination, a semistructured interview used to aid in the diagnosis of eating disorders.


RESULTS
Validity in younger patients appeared to be good. Children and adolescents showed both similarities and differences from adults tested in a previous study.


CONCLUSIONS
The measure is the first to measure attitudes of children and adolescents with AN towards their illness and may prove a useful tool for the measurement of attitudes towards AN in both clinical and research settings.
Serpell
Lucy
L
Department of Psychiatry, St. George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK. lucy@serpell.com
Neiderman
Marc
M
Haworth
Emma
E
Emmanueli
Francesca
F
Lask
Bryan
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002665:Child Psychiatry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity