Eating disorders and substance abuse in Canadian women: a national study

AIMS: This study aimed to examine the comorbidity between eating disorders and substance use in a large nationally representative sample of Canadian adult women. Recent as well as life-time measures of substance use were used. DESIGN: The research was based on secondary analyses of data collected, using multi-stage stratified probability sampling, by Statistics Canada in the Mental Health and Well-being cycle 1.2 of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). MEASUREMENTS: The Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) was used to measure risk of eating disorders. Alcohol use, dependence and interference, and illicit drug use, dependence and interference were measured using relevant modules from the short form of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-SF). PARTICIPANTS: Data on a nationally representative sample of Canadian adult women, grouped into three age groups, were used for this research. FINDINGS: Alcohol dependence and alcohol interference were associated significantly with the risk for an eating disorder in the three adult age groups. Significant associations were also found in the three age groups between risk for an eating disorder and the life-time abuse of and dependence on illicit drugs. Significant associations were found in the 15-24 and 25-44-year age groups when the 12-month time-frame was used. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings support the call for the development of short screening instruments for adult women with eating disorders and substance abuse, as well as for the development of treatment strategies that address the co-occurrence of eating disorders and substance use