[Bulimic and depressive symptomatology in Puerto Rican adolescents].

Bulimia nervosa and depression have been identified as frequent mental health problems among adolescents. Bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder has been associated with depression especially among female population. The literature has established a high comorbidity between these disorders. Although depression was initially conceptualized as an adult disorder, recent research evidenced this disorder among adolescents. For this study, it was hypothesized that participants who presented bulimic symptomatology were going to present a higher depressive symptomatology than those who had no bulimic symptoms. The Bulimia Test (Bulit) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were administered to 309 students from a private high school in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Correlation analyses and group comparisons were performed to investigate the relationship between bulimia nervosa and depression among participants. As hypothesized, a significant correlation (p < .01) was found between depression and bulimia nervosa symptomatology. Females showed a higher average of bulimic symptomatology than males. Early identification for treatments with bulimia and depression would be helpful in preventing future problems in later adulthood. Implications of this study are discussed.