According to the textbook, a dependent variable is the outcome of the effect

  
According to the textbook, a dependent variable is the outcome of the effect in a quantitative study. 2 The independent variable is the cause of influencing factor.2 In this research article the dependent variable is the prevalence of eating disorders among the rural area adolescents. The independent variable is the lack of access to specialized care.  
In this study, participants that met certain criteria for eating disorders were assigned a service access score. Researchers retrospectively assigned diagnosis of eating disorders according to adult and child interviews from medical records. Access to service and remoteness was measured to by The Access to Remoteness Index for Australia Plus (ARIA).  The ARIA measures ranges from 0-15. The higher the score, the lower the access to service. To determine the socioeconomic status of participants, Socio Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) was used.