Current Eating Disorder Research Articles

The role of weight control as a motivation for cocaine abuse

Heavy use of cocaine and alcohol in female cocaine abusers with eating disorders has been reported, but the prevalence and motivation for concurrent substance use has not been well investigated. This study of 37 female and 40 male cocaine abusers demonstrated that almost half of the women used cocaine and/or alcohol as a weight control measure, and 13% of the males did the same. Thirteen (72%) of 18 females endorsing weight-related use of cocaine had a current diagnosis of an eating disorder. Only two males (5%) had a past history of an eating disorder. Eleven (85%) of those women with a current eating disorder endorsed using alcohol as an appetite suppressant. These findings support the need to evaluate weight control motivation in cocaine users and to provide specific treatment aimed at addressing the interaction between the eating disorder and the substance abuse problem.

Prevalence and Contributing Factors of Eating Disorder Behaviors in a Population of Female Navy Nurses

Eating disorders continue to be reported at a steady rate among lay women. The disorders of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (NOS) have only been reported in a military population in isolated case reports. The military lifestyle and the nursing profession mimic the environment that appears to prevail among women with eating disorders who have been previously studied in civilian populations. A total of 706 active duty female Navy nurses returned an anonymous mailed survey that was developed to correlate military and professional demographics and variables with current and past eating disorder behaviors. Responses were analyzed using the criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Third Edition, Revised; for AN, BN, and NOS eating disorders. Nurses who fit the criteria for AN were 1.1%, and 12.5% met the criteria for BN. NOS was seen in 36% of those sampled, and those classified as normal by exclusion were 50.4%. The Navy provides an environment in which eating disorder behaviors thrive and survive due to many reported military and professional factors.

The Psychological Battle for Control: A Qualitative Study of Health-care Professionals' Understandings of the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa

This paper reports a qualitative, idiographic study, which intensively examines a multidisciplinary team of clinicians' subjective understandings and experiences of treating young people with anorexia nervosa. The study employs semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis, these methods enabling individual clinicians' perspectives to be explored in depth and retained within the analysis. The analysis focuses on the salient higher-order theme of control which emerges as central to understanding the treatment of the anorexic child. Three control-related themes are used to illustrate the multiplicity of meanings and experiences which are relevant to this team of health-care professionals. It is suggested that this paper makes three important contributions to the current eating disorder literature: illuminating the multi-faceted nature of the construct control; highlighting the importance of therapists' subjective understandings and experiences; and illustrating the value of qualitative methods for clinically relevant research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Eating and general psychopathology in a sample of Caucasian and ethnic minority subjects

Most research on eating disorders (ED) has been conducted on Caucasian women. Considerable uncertainty remains as to the presentation of ED in ethnic minorities. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether or not Caucasian and minority eating disorder subjects differ on key ED symptomatology and general psychopathology. This descriptive investigation examined the separate and combined influences of ED diagnosis (bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or overweight subjects with no eating disorder) and ethnicity (Caucasian vs. minority) on ED symptomatology and general psychopathology. Suitable subjects, 109 Caucasian and 40 minority women, attended a clinical interview and completed several ED and general psychopathology questionnaires. Clear differences were shown in terms of ED and general psychopathology between the ED groups, with bulimia nervosa subjects scoring consistently higher than the other two diagnostic groups. However, Caucasian and minority subjects scored similarly on the eating disorder and general psychopathology measures. Therefore, the findings suggest that current ED treatment protocols found to be effective with Caucasian subjects may not need to be modified before application to minority patients with ED.

Eating and general psychopathology in a sample of Caucasian and ethnic minority subjects

Objective Most research on eating disorders (ED) has been conducted on Caucasian women. Considerable uncertainty remains as to the presentation of ED in ethnic minorities. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether or not Caucasian and minority eating disorder subjects differ on key ED symptomatology and general psychopathology. Method: This descriptive investigation examined the separate and combined influences of ED diagnosis (bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or overweight subjects with no eating disorder) and ethnicity (Caucasian vs. minority) on ED symptomatology and general psychopathology. Suitable subjects, 109 Caucasian and 40 minority women, attended a clinical interview and completed several ED and general psychopathology questionnaires. Results: Clear differences were shown in terms of ED and general psychopathology between the ED groups, with bulimia nervosa subjects scoring consistently higher than the other two diagnostic groups. However, Caucasian and minority subjects scored similarly on the eating disorder and general psychopathology measures. Discussion: Therefore, the findings suggest that current ED treatment protocols found to be effective with Caucasian subjects may not need to be modified before application to minority patients with ED. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 21: 285–293, 1997.

An ongoing cross-sectional study of the prevalence of eating disorders in freshman college students

Our third cross-sectional survey designed to elicit DSM-III inclusion criteria for bulimia was completed by 1836 students, 97.2% of those surveyed. Based on operationalized criteria, 4.7% of females reported a current eating disorder diagnosis. These included bulimia (4.3%), bulimia nervosa (2.2%), bulimia with weekly binge/purging behavior (1.1%), and anorexia nervosa (0.1%). Current bulimia was reported by 0.1% of males and current bulimia nervosa by 0.3%. Those women with current bulimia were more likely to report a history of treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse than those bulimic women in remission. The data suggest that fear of loss of control over eating is an important part of the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, while fear of being fat is less apt to differentiate between bulimic and nonbulimic women. The desire for low weight was more pronounced in bulimic female students in the current survey than in previous surveys. The percentage of women who reported a history of bulimia with weekly binge eating and purging went from 1% in 1980 to 3.2% in 1983 and to 2.2% in the current survey indicating that the prevalence for this disorder may have peaked and may be declining.

Eating disorders in women who abuse alcohol

It has been suggested that various forms of addictive behaviour and substance abuse co-exist more frequently than would be expected by chance. Such co-morbidity may lessen the effectiveness of treatment, and may not be recognized by clinicians who specialize in one particular form of addiction. This study addresses one aspect of this issue: the co-existence of eating disorders and alcohol abuse. Women attending an alcohol treatment unit completed a self-report measure of the clinical features of eating disorders. Thirty-six per cent of the sample reported the symptom of binge-eating, 26% fulfilled diagnostic criteria for a probable current clinical eating disorder, and 19% had a history of probable anorexia nervosa. The findings suggest that the behaviour and attitudes characteristic of clinical eating disorders are over-represented in women receiving treatment for an alcohol problem, and further study of such co-morbidity is merited.

Eating disorders and social maladjustment in female medical students.

A survey of eating disorders in female medical students showed that 15% had a lifetime history of bulimia or anorexia nervosa. On the work, social/leisure, and overall subscales of the Social Adjustment Scale Self-Report, those medical students who had current or previous eating disorders reported greater social maladjustment then medical students who did not have eating disorders.