Racial and Ethnic Differences in Risk Factors and Prodromal Symptoms That Predict Eating Disorder Onset: A 3-Year Prospective Study of Adolescent Girls and Young Women

Background/Objective: Our current knowledge regarding ethnic/racial differences in the incidence of and risk factors for eating disorder onset is relatively limited. We examined whether the baseline prevalence and incidence of onset of any eating disorder over follow-up and the risk factors that predict future onset of any eating disorder differ for various ethnic/racial groups. Methods: Data were collected from females across a wide age range (N = 1952; White = 61%, Hispanic = 17%, Asian = 14%, Black = 5%, and Native American = 3%; M baseline age = 19.7, SD = 5.7; baseline age range: 13–64) who completed self-report questionnaires and a diagnostic interview at baseline and then annually over 3 years. We ran two chi-square tests that examined how ethnicity/race were related to eating disorders at baseline and future onset as well as a series of logistic regression models that tested whether baseline risk factors and prodromal symptoms were differentially related to future eating disorder onset across ethnic/racial groups. Results: The diagnostic prevalences as well as the predictive relationship of a risk factor and a prodromal symptom with eating disorder onset were very similar across ethnic/racial groups, with only one instance where the magnitude of the predictive effects differed across two ethnic/racial groups; lower zBMI was predictive among White women, whereas higher zBMI was predictive among Black women. Conclusions: Overall, risk factors and prodromal symptoms are similar across the examined ethnic/racial groups, suggesting that we can implement the same prevention programs for women with the same risk factors, regardless of their ethnic/racial identities.