Relationship of social anxiety, body image perception and depression with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa in youth

Introduction: According to the prevalence of eating disorders among youth population and their disturbances in various fields, the present study examined the relationship between social anxiety, body image perception and depression with bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa in young people. Materials and Methods: The sample includes 200 freshman male and female students of Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khuzestan in academic year of 2014-2015 who were selected multi-level randomized method. They responded to Eating Disorder Inventory (AEDI) of Coker and Rogers, Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Beck Depression Inventory and Fishers Body Image Perception. Canonical correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis. Results: Canonical coefficients obtained in this study were 6.0 (P<0.0001). The results show that the first set of variables and a second set of variables had a significant relationship with each other so social anxiety, perceived body image and depression were predictors for bulimia and anorexia. Depression of the first series showed the highest correlation with anorexia nervosa of the second set. Conclusion: It seems that social anxiety, perceived body image and depression can be considered as predictors for bulimia and anorexia in youth population.