In recent years there have been growing concerns about the impact of disordered eating in female populations and the harmful consequences of disordered eating in females with type 1 diabetes. However, the emphasis of diabetes research in this area has been focused on eating issues and associated risk factors in adolescent populations or combined age ranges from young adolescents to older adults, while the young adulthood phase, an important transitional period has been mostly neglected. There are relatively few studies that have looked at eating disturbances and associated risk factors in Australian community samples. Overseas research has indicated that there is a higher incidence of eating disturbances in females with type 1 diabetes compared to females without type 1 diabetes but there have been no previous Australian studies that have specifically examined these issues in young women aged 18 to 25 years with type 1 diabetes.
The primary aim of the current study was to investigate whether having type 1 diabetes made any additional contribution to disordered eating after taking into account the contribution of known risk factors including body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, perceived maternal influence, attachment to peers, and perfectionism. The second aim was to investigate the influence of disordered eating and other risk factors including body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, and diabetes onset age on diabetes management and metabolic control levels. Two models were developed to test these aims.