Examining the Match Between Assessed Eating Disorder Recovery and Subjective Sense of Recovery: Preliminary Findings

This study examined how individuals clinically assessed as fully or partially recovered from an eating disorder subjectively perceived themselves in terms of stage of change in the recovery process. Individuals formerly seen for an eating disorder at a Midwestern clinic were recruited. Using validated definitions of recovery, 18 were fully recovered (physical, behavioral, and psychological recovery) and 15 were partially recovered (only physical and behavioral recovery); these groups were compared on overall stage of change and confidence related to this stage, dieting stage of change, and internality of motivation. The fully and partially recovered groups endorsed being fully recovered (overall and for dieting) at similar rates. There were trends for the fully recovered group seeking change primarily for themselves and being more confident in their stage of change choice. Results have implications for approaches when a client's assessed recovery stage does not match her subjective sense of recovery and for better understanding recovery from an eating disorder

Global warming and discourses of uncertainty: buying time, buying business and engendering risk

Pro-anorexia websites portray an extreme form of thin-ideal. This between-subjects experiment examined the effects of viewing such a website on body satisfaction, affect, and appearance self-efficacy compared to viewing control websites (fashion, home decoration, automutilation). The sample consisted of 124 normal weight, young adult, Dutch women (mean age 21.2, mean body mass index 21.4). Participants did not differ on affect and appearance self-efficacy. One body satisfaction measure showed that pro-anorexia viewers were more satisfied with their bodies than home decoration viewers. Our findings suggest that viewing a pro-anorexia website might not have detrimental effects on body satisfaction and affect among normal weight young women

Factors associated with self-identification of an eating disorder history among Latinas meeting criteria for past or current eating disorders

Objective: This paper compared Latinas who self-identified as having had an eating disorder (ED) with those who did not (despite both groups meeting criteria for an ED history) on ED pathology and mental health stigma. Method: Seventy-seven Latinas completed an online survey. Results: All 77 participants met criteria for lifetime EDs, and 92% met current criteria for an ED; however, 47% did not report having an ED history vs. 53% did report an ED history. There was no difference on binge eating frequency. Those who endorsed an ED history engaged in more compensatory behaviors, had higher EAT-26 scores, and were less fearful of stigmatization due to seeking mental health treatment. Those reporting an ED history were more likely to have met criteria for anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, generally more recognizable EDs than binge eating disorder and other specified feeding or eating disorders, than those who did not report an ED history. Discussion: Latinas with certain patterns of eating pathology and those with less fear of being stigmatized due to seeking mental health treatment were more likely to endorse an ED history, which has implications for treatment seeking

Coping and social support as potential moderators of the relation between anxiety and eating disorder symptomatology

Trait anxiety and eating disorder (ED) symptomatology are often thought to be inextricably linked. Because anxiety often precedes an ED, predicts poor outcome, and persists even after recovery from an ED, it is important to examine whether certain factors have the ability to potentially attenuate anxiety’s effect on eating pathology. In the current study, we examined two possible moderating factors: coping skills and social support. Participants were 96 females seen at one point for an ED at a Midwestern clinic, including 53 with a current ED diagnosis and 43 who no longer met criteria for an ED and who were at varying levels of recovery. Results revealed that emotion-oriented coping moderated the relation between anxiety and ED symptoms. Individuals who were high in trait anxiety and who reported low levels of emotion-oriented coping reported much lower levels of ED symptomatology than those with high trait anxiety and high emotion-oriented coping. Contrary to our hypotheses, task-oriented coping, avoidance-oriented coping, and perceived social support (total, family, friend, and special person) did not emerge as moderators of the relation between trait anxiety and eating pathology. Results provide growing support that factors that interact with anxiety can lessen anxiety’s effect on eating pathology. Implications for treatment and future directions are discussed

Differences in coping across stages of recovery from an eating disorder

This study examined the relation between coping skills and eating disorder recovery by comparing these skills across healthy controls, fully recovered, partially recovered, and active eating disorder cases. Full recovery was defined using physical, behavioral, and psychological components

Physical appearance perfectionism explains variance in eating disorder symptoms above general perfectionism

Physical appearance perfectionism is a domain-specific form of perfectionism comprising two components: hope for perfection and worry about imperfection (Yang & Stoeber, 2012). Previous studies found that physical appearance perfectionism is related to eating disorder symptoms, particularly the worry about imperfection component, but did not address the question of whether physical appearance perfectionism explains variance in eating disorder symptoms above general perfectionism. The present study investigated the question examining 559 female university students. Physical appearance perfectionism explained an additional 9-17% of variance in eating disorder symptoms above the 11-20% variance explained by general perfectionism. The findings suggest that physical appearance perfectionism plays an important role in disordered eating beyond general perfectionis

Innovation in eating disorders research and practice: Expanding our community and perspectives at the 2018 International Conference on Eating Disorders: Editorial to accompany IJED Virtual Issue in honor of the 2018 International Conference on Eating Diso

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Objective: This virtual issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED) highlights the excellent and innovative research and practice discussed at the 2018 International Conference on Eating Disorders held in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Method and Results: The virtual issue contains a series of articles recently published in IJED, which we have curated to reflect and expand on the insights delivered during the conference keynote and plenary presentations. Discussion: In line with the conference theme of Innovation in Research and Practice: Expanding our Community and Perspectives, we hope this collection of articles will spark new ideas for research, practice, and collaboration to accelerate knowledge on eating disorder risk factors and recovery, and the reach and impact of evidence-based treatment, prevention, and policy efforts

Prospectively predicting dietary restraint: The role of interpersonal self-efficacy, weight/shape self-efficacy, and interpersonal stress

This study investigated how the precursors of interpersonal self-efficacy and weight/shape self-efficacy would interact in the face of interpersonal stress to prospectively predict dietary restraint. Three models were explored, each with a different type of interpersonal stress: stress from same sex friendships, opposite sex friendships, or romantic relationships

Objectified body consciousness in relation to recovery from an eating disorder

In Western society, the feminine body has been positioned as an object to be looked at and sexually gazed upon; thus, females often learn to view themselves as objects to be observed (i.e., objectified body consciousness (OBC)). This study examined the relation between OBC and eating disorder recovery by comparing its components across non-eating disorder controls, fully recovered, partially recovered, and active eating disorder cases. Results revealed that non-eating disorder controls and fully recovered individuals had similarly low levels of two components of OBC, body surveillance and body shame. Partially recovered individuals looked more similar to those with an active eating disorder on these constructs. The third component of OBC, control beliefs, and a conceptually similar construct, weight/shape self-efficacy, did not differ across groups. Results provide support for the importance of measuring aspects of self-objectification, particularly body surveillance and body shame, across the course of an eating disorder

Eating Expectancies in Relation to Eating Disorder Recovery

This study examined the relation between eating expectancies, assessed via the Eating Expectancy Inventory, and eating disorder recovery. Individuals formerly seen for an eating disorder were categorized as having an active eating disorder (n = 53), as partially recovered (n = 15), or as fully recovered (n = 20). The expectancies of these groups were compared to each other and to 67 non-eating disorder controls. Results revealed that three of the five eating expectancies differed across groups. Non-eating disorder controls and fully recovered individuals endorsed similar levels of the expectancies that eating helps manage negative affect, eating is pleasurable and useful as a reward, and eating leads to feeling out of control. Partially recovered individuals looked more similar to active eating disorder cases on these expectancies. The other two expectancies did not differ across groups. Results provide some indication that certain eating expectancies may be associated with eating disorder recovery