title: Mental health impairment associated with eating-disorder features in a community sample of women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Impairment in mental health associated with eating-disorder features was examined in a large, general population sample of women aged 18 to 42 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n = 5255) completed self-report measures of eating-disordered behaviour, mental health functioning, height and weight and socio-demographic information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common eating-disorder features were extreme concerns about weight or shape (14.6%), subjective overeating (12.7%), objective overeating (10.6%) and extreme concerns about dietary intake (10.4%). In multivariable analysis, in which mental health functioning was regressed on eating-disorder features, while also controlling for age and body weight, objective overeating (β  =  -0.07), subjective overeating (β   = -0.07), extreme dietary restriction (β  =  -0.06) and extreme concerns about eating (β  =  -0.04) showed small, but statistically significant associations with mental health impairment, whereas extreme weight or shape concerns showed a very strong association (β  =  -0.24).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From a clinical perspective, the findings are consistent with the importance attached to the "over-evaluation" of weight or shape as a core component of eating-disorder psychopathology. From a public health perspective, the findings indicate the need to conceive of body dissatisfaction as a target for health promotion in its own right.
authors.affiliation: School of Sociology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Jonathan.Mond@anu.edu.au
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mond
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Owen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult