Viewership of pro-anorexia websites in seventh, ninth and eleventh graders.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia websites by 13-, 15- and 17-year old adolescents and to explore correlates of visiting such websites and predictors of anorexia nervosa (AN).


METHODS
Questionnaire in a sample of 711 secondary school children from the 7th, 9th and 11th grade in Flanders, Belgium.


RESULTS
12.6% of the girls and 5.9% of the boys had visited such websites. In girls, visiting pro-anorexia websites was associated with a higher drive for thinness, worse perception of appearance and more perfectionism.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of visiting pro-anorexia sites is non-trivial and the significant correlations between viewership of pro-ana sites and predictors of AN suggest a potential for negative impact of exposure to pro-ana sites. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the potential threat of the existence of pro-ana sites to organized health care.
Custers
Kathleen
K
Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat, Leuven, Belgium.
Van den Bulck
Jan
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000855:Anorexia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*