The purpose of this study was to examine university students’ perceived importance of knowledge of eating disorders, overall confidence in appropriately intervening with a friend who has an eating disorder and whether their perceived importance of knowledge and confidence levels differed based on sex, current involvement in disordered eating and extent of social connections. This study sought to fill current gaps in the literature regarding disordered eating. This information is important to strengthen future educational efforts related to the identification and acknowledgement of eating disorders with friends and family.
A total of 421 participants were surveyed during the spring 2010 quarter at a Midwest university. The sample included students from a variety of courses. Valid and reliable subscales were developed for the 86-item questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, Chi-square analysis, and Pearson correlations were used to analyze the data. Results indicated participants’ confidence addressing disordered eating in their friends was moderate. Further, participants felt having knowledge about disordered eating was important and that disordered eating is a significant issue on college campuses. Both importance of having information and confidence addressing disordered eating differed significantly based on sex. Females felt this issue was of greater importance, in addition to expressing more confidence addressing the issue. Recommendations have been included for future studies.