Relationship between mental health and eating disorders in female students of Guilan University

  Background: One of the most common psychological disorders is eating disorder which leads to high comorbidity and is mostly observed in teenage and young girls.   Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental health and eating disorders as well as determining the mental health differences in female students with and without eating disorders.   Methods: This was a causal-comparative study in which 420 female students of Guilan University were investigated in 2010. The students, who were selected based on available sampling, completed the eating attitude test (EAT-26) and general health questionnaires (GHQ-28). Test-retest and Cronbach’s alpha were used to identify the reliability and validity of questionnaires. The independent t-test and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.   Findings: Based on the EAT-26cut off score, 25.7% and 74.3% and of students were found with and without eating disorders, respectively. Also, there was a significant difference between anxiety in students with and without eating disorder (P<0/05), however, no significant difference between depression, somatic symptoms, social withdrawal, and total score in general psychological health was found in two groups. Regression analysis showed that anxiety could be a suitable predictor for eating disorders.   Conclusion: According to our data, anxiety is one of the factors associated with eating disorders in female students and it can predict the presence of eating disorders better than other psychological factors.