Body Dissatisfaction in Women Across the Lifespan: Results of the UNC-SELF and Gender and Body Image (GABI) Studies

To explore age differences in current and preferred silhouette and body dissatisfaction (current -preferred silhouette discrepancy) in women aged 25-89 years using figural stimuli (range: 1-very small to 9-very large). Data were abstracted from two online convenience samples (N = 5,868). t-tests with permutation-adjusted p-values examined linear associations between mean silhouette scores (current, preferred, discrepancy score) and age with/without stratification by body mass index (BMI). Modal current silhouette was 5; modal preferred silhouette was 4; mean discrepancy score was 1.8. There was no significant association between current silhouette and age, but a positive linear association between preferred silhouette and age remained after stratification by BMI. A significant inverse linear association of silhouette discrepancy score and age was found only prior to stratification by BMI. Body dissatisfaction exists in women across the adult life span and is influenced by BMI

Sleep problems are associated with binge eating in women

We examined the association among current self-reported sleep problems, lifetime binge eating, and current obesity in women from the Swedish Twin study of Adults: Genes and Environment stud

Effects of reducing the frequency and duration criteria for binge eating on lifetime prevalence of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: Implications for DSM-5

We assessed the impact of reducing the binge eating frequency and duration thresholds on the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED)

CBT4BN versus CBTF2F: Comparison of online versus face-to-face treatment for bulimia nervosa

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is currently the “gold standard” for treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN), and is effective for approximately 40–60% of individuals receiving treatment; however, the majority of individuals in need of care do not have access to CBT. New strategies for service delivery of CBT and for maximizing maintenance of treatment benefits are critical for improving our ability to treat BN. This clinical trial is comparing an Internet-based version of CBT (CBT4BN) in which group intervention is conducted via therapeutic chat group with traditional group CBT (CBTF2F) for BN conducted via face-to-face therapy group. The purpose of the trial is to determine whether manualized CBT delivered via the Internet is not inferior to the gold standard of manualized group CBT. In this two-site randomized controlled trial, powered for non-inferiority analyses, 180 individuals with BN are being randomized to either CBT4BN or CBTF2F. We hypothesize that CBT4BN will not be inferior to CBTF2F and that participants will value the convenience of an online intervention. If not inferior, CBT4BN may be a cost-effective approach to service delivery for individuals requiring treatment for BN

A behavioral-genetic investigation of bulimia nervosa and its relationship with alcohol use disorder

Bulimia nervosa (BN) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) frequently co-occur and may share genetic factors; however, the nature of their association is not fully understood. We assessed the extent to which the same genetic and environmental factors contribute to liability to BN and AUD. A bivariate structural equation model using a Cholesky decomposition was fit to data from 7,241 women who participated in the Swedish Twin study of Adults: Genes and Environment. The proportion of variance accounted for by genetic and environmental factors for BN and AUD and the genetic and environmental correlations between these disorders were estimated. In the best-fitting model, the heritability estimates were 0.55 (95% CI: 0.37; 0.70) for BN and 0.62 (95% CI: 0.54; 0.70) for AUD. Unique environmental factors accounted for the remainder of variance for BN. The genetic correlation between BN and AUD was 0.23 (95% CI: 0.01; 0.44), and the correlation between the unique environmental factors for the two disorders was 0.35 (95% CI: 0.08; 0.61), suggesting moderate overlap in these factors. Findings from this investigation provide additional support that some of the same genetic factors may influence liability to both BN and AUD

Assessment of gene expression in peripheral blood using RNAseq before and after weight restoration in anorexia nervosa

We examined gene expression in the blood of six females with anorexia nervosa (AN) before and after weight restoration using RNAseq. AN cases (aged 19-39) completed clinical assessments and had blood drawn for RNA at hospital admission (T1, < ~75% ideal body weight, IBW) and again at discharge (T2, ≥ ~85% IBW). To examine the relationship between weight restoration and differential gene expression, normalized gene expression levels were analyzed using a paired design. We found 564 genes whose expression was nominally significantly different following weight restoration (p < 0.01, 231 increased and 333 decreased). With a more stringent significance threshold (false discovery rate q < 0.05), 67 genes met criteria for differential expression. Of the top 20 genes, CYP11A1, C16orf11, LINC00235, and CPA3 were down-regulated more than two-fold after weight restoration while multiple olfactory receptor genes (OR52J3, OR51L1, OR51A4, OR51A2) were up-regulated more than two-fold after weight restoration. Pathway analysis revealed up-regulation of two broad pathways with largely overlapping genes, one related to protein secretion and signaling and the other associated with defense response to bacterial regulation. Although results are preliminary secondary to a small sample size, these data provide initial evidence of transcriptional alterations during weight restoration in AN

Binge eating, body mass index, and gastrointestinal symptoms

Symptoms of both gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are frequently reported by individuals who binge eat. Higher body mass index (BMI) has also been associated with these disorders and with binge eating (BE). However, it is unknown whether BE influences GERD/IBS and how BMI might affect these associations. Thus, we examined the potential associations among BE, GERD, IBS, and BMI

Retrospective Maternal Report of Early Eating Behaviors in Anorexia Nervosa

This exploratory study assessed whether maternal recall of childhood feeding and eating practices differed across anorexia nervosa (AN) subtypes. Participants were 325 women from the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa study whose mothers completed a childhood feeding and eating questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to predict AN subtype from measures related to childhood eating: (a) infant feeding (breastfed, feeding schedule, age of solid food introduction), (b) childhood picky eating (picky eating before age one and between ages one and five), and (c) infant gastrointestinal problems (vomiting and colic). Results revealed no significant differences in retrospective maternal report of childhood feeding and eating practices among AN subtypes

Plant trait and vegetation data along a 1314 m elevation gradient with fire history in Puna grasslands, Perú

Alpine grassland vegetation supports globally important biodiversity and ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by climate warming and other environmental changes. Trait-based approaches can support understanding of vegetation responses to global change drivers and consequences for ecosystem functioning. In six sites along a 1314 m elevational gradient in Puna grasslands in the Peruvian Andes, we collected datasets on vascular plant composition, plant functional traits, biomass, ecosystem fluxes, and climate data over three years. The data were collected in the wet and dry season and from plots with different fire histories. We selected traits associated with plant resource use, growth, and life history strategies (leaf area, leaf dry/wet mass, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf C, N, P content, C and N isotopes). The trait dataset contains 3,665 plant records from 145 taxa, 54,036 trait measurements (increasing the trait data coverage of the regional flora by 420%) covering 14 traits and 121 plant taxa (ca. 40% of which have no previous publicly available trait data) across 33 families

A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and heritable eating disorder characterized by dangerously low body weight. Neither candidate gene studies nor an initial genome wide association study (GWAS) have yielded significant and replicated results. We performed a GWAS in 2,907 cases with AN from 14 countries (15 sites) and 14,860 ancestrally matched controls as part of the Genetic Consortium for AN (GCAN) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 3 (WTCCC3). Individual association analyses were conducted in each stratum and meta-analyzed across all 15 discovery datasets. Seventy-six (72 independent) SNPs were taken forward for in silico (two datasets) or de novo (13 datasets) replication genotyping in 2,677 independent AN cases and 8,629 European ancestry controls along with 458 AN cases and 421 controls from Japan. The final global meta-analysis across discovery and replication datasets comprised 5,551 AN cases and 21,080 controls. AN subtype analyses (1,606 AN restricting; 1,445 AN binge-purge) were performed. No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two intronic variants were suggestively associated: rs9839776 (P=3.01×10−7) in SOX2OT and rs17030795 (P=5.84×10−6) in PPP3CA. Two additional signals were specific to Europeans: rs1523921 (P=5.76×10−6) between CUL3 and FAM124B and rs1886797 (P=8.05×10−6) near SPATA13. Comparing discovery to replication results, 76% of the effects were in the same direction, an observation highly unlikely to be due to chance (P= 4×10−6), strongly suggesting that true findings exist but that our sample, the largest yet reported, was underpowered for their detection. The accrual of large genotyped AN case-control samples should be an immediate priority for the field