Follow-up and replication of prevalence of bulimia among college students

About this book

These data were collected as a follow-up and replication of Colby,Ware,and Zuckerman's Prevalence of Bulimia Among College Students, A871 study which surveyed a random sample of college students from Harvard University in 1982. The purpose of the replication was to examine changes in the prevalence of dieting behavior and eating disorder symptoms from 1982 to 1992. The follow-up was designed to assess whether any change in eating behaviors had occurred during the transition to early adulthood. In 1991-92, surveys were sent randomly to 1200 students; 799 (564 women and 235 men) completed questionnaires were returned. A follow-up of 732 of the 908 subjects in the original sample was also conducted. Participants from both the replication and follow-up studies completed surveys that were similar to the 1982 questionnaire. Surveys included questions about demographic and health background, eating habits, dieting, exercise, and specific symptoms of eating disorders, including 26 items from the Eating Disorder Inventory. The follow-up questionnaire also included questions about family and career, as well as the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The Murray Center holds the questionnaires in their original paper format and in computer-accessible format for both the replication and follow-up samples. The Murray Center has also archived the data from the original study.