Bulimia nervosa and associated alcohol abuse among secondary school students.

Four adolescent student populations (totalling 686 girls and 705 boys) completed confidential questionnaires (98.6% response rate) concerning bulimia nervosa and alcohol abuse. All of the DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa were met by 2.0% of the girls and 0.1% of the boys. On the basis of score greater than or equal to 42 on the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale, 12.5% of all girls and 9.2% of all boys were alcohol abusers. Our results suggest a significant association between bulimic behavior and alcohol abuse in this female population. Other factors associated with bulimic behavior included high maternal vocational status, high socioeconomic class (girls only), high weight for age and height, and low personal ideal weight. Other factors associated with alcohol abuse included high maternal vocational status, low paternal vocational status and education, low socioeconomic class (boys only), low grade point average, high age, and high birth order.