Self-silencing in a clinical sample of female adolescents with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE The present study was designed to assess the relationship between self-silencing behaviours and eating disorder symptoms in a female adolescent population with eating disorders. METHOD One hundred and forty-nine adolescent girls between the ages of 13 and 18 completed a comprehensive assessment at a tertiary care children's hospital. Each participant completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2; Garner, 1991), the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC; March et al, 1997), and an adapted version of the Silencing the Self Scale for adolescents (STSS; Sippola & Bukowski, 1996). RESULTS Self-silencing behaviours correlated strongly with eating disorder symptomatology. Social anxiety was found to predict body dissatisfaction, while externalized self-perception was found to contribute uniquely to body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness, two risk factors closely associated with eating disorders. CONCLUSION These results suggest the importance of including relational and emotional development in comprehensive models of disordered eating.