(PS5-63) Local or Global? The Examination of How Country of Origin Relates to Eating Disorder Risk

Abstract Text: Countries have different sociocultural norms and appearance ideals that can impact a person’s lifestyle, such as eating behaviors. In the United States (US), 9% of the population, or 28.8 million Americans, are diagnosed with an eating disorder. It is possible that the risk of eating disorders in the US comes from societal and cultural pressures, which may differ across countries. The purpose of this study was to determine whether country of origin and time spent living in the US increased eating disorder risk. It was predicted that people born in the US would have greater eating disorder psychopathology than those born in other countries. Additionally, it was predicted that immigrants who spent more years in the US would endorse more disordered eating than those who had lived there fewer years. Two hundred seventy-nine female identifying participants (Mage=20.13; MBMI = 23.31) were recruited from psychology courses at a university in the Pacific Rim. Participants were asked their country of origin and how long they had lived in the US. Participants also completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), a self-report measure of eating disorder symptoms. Thirty-six participants (12.9%) reported a country of origin outside of the US including countries in Asia (n = 27), Europe (n = 4), North America (n = 2), and Other (n = 3). On average, those participants reported living in the US for 9.58 years (SD = 9.76). Individuals born in the US (M = 9.68) had similar levels of eating disorder risk as those born outside of the US (M = 11.00), t(263)=-.74, p=.229, d=-.13. Among those who immigrated, time spent in the US was not correlated with eating disorder risk, r(34) = -.17, p = .328. The results indicated that country of origin and time spent living in the US did not impact current eating disorder psychopathology. These results reject the proposed hypotheses. These findings suggest that the risk of eating disorders is similar across groups and therefore are not bound to people native to the US. These results may be related to how people of different cultures have a harder time accessing treatment or receiving a diagnosis due to stereotypes. For example, it is a stereotype that only thin white women struggle with eating disorders, but the results from this study reject that notion. Therefore, clinicians could improve their practice by recognizing their biases and assessing all patients for eating disorders, regardless of country of origin or cultural background. Future research should examine how biases affect access to eating disorder treatment for individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds.