Eating disorder risk among college sorority and fraternity members within the United States.

Abstract

Eating disorder (ED) risk is elevated among college populations in the United States. However, current research assessing the relative risk of ED symptomatology within Greek life has been mixed. We aimed to assess whether Greek Life Affiliation (GA) was associated with a greater risk for ED among college students in the United States as measured on the SCOFF questionnaire. Data were extracted from the Healthy Minds Study, which surveyed 44,785 American college students across 79 schools. The survey asked about GA, Greek life housing, and included the SCOFF questionnaire. This study utilized multiple logistic regressions and chi-square analyses (n = 44785) to analyze the data. GA failed to predict ED-risk in both women (aOR = 0.98 [95% CI = 0.90, 1.06]) and men (aOR = 1.07 [95% CI = 0.92, 1.24]). Similarly, among female [aOR = 1.00 [95% CI = 0.46, 2.12]) and male participants (aOR = 1.06 [95% CI = 0.59, 1.98]), sorority/fraternity housing also failed to predict ED-risk. Greek Life Affiliation is not associated with greater ED-risk among US college students.