Comparing Anorectics and Bulimics on Measures of Depression,Anxiety, and Anger

Abstract

Seventeen anorectics and 33 bulimics, all female inpatients at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital's eating disorder unit, and 57 non-eating-disordered female controls from undergraduate psychology classes at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, were compared on measures of depression, anxiety, and anger. Results indicated that both anorectics and bulimics differed from controls on depression, anxiety, and three of the six scales assessing anger. Bulimics and anorectics, however, did not significantly differ from each other in terms of depression, anxiety, and anger. The implications of these results for practice and research with eating-disordered persons are discussed.