Examining the momentary relationships between body checking and eating disorder symptoms in women with anorexia nervosa.

Body checking is common among individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and increases risk for dietary restriction. However, no study has examined whether body checking increases the immediate risk for engaging in other harmful weight loss behaviors, or whether this relationship is moderated by person-level traits. The current study utilized ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine whether (a) body checking predicted rapid use of weight loss behaviors, and (b) whether eating-related obsessionality/compulsivity moderated this relationship. Women with full or subthreshold anorexia nervosa (N = 118) completed a measure of eating-related obsessionality/compulsivity at baseline, followed by a 14-day EMA protocol during which they reported on body checking and weight loss behaviors (i.e., exercise, self-induced vomiting, laxative use, skipping meals, and increasing fluid intake). In a series of generalized linear mixed models, within-person effects indicated that momentary body checking significantly predicted subsequent meal skipping and using fluids to curb appetite. Between-person effects indicated that individuals who engage in more frequent body checking also engage in a higher frequency of self-induced vomiting, meal skipping, and use of fluids to curb appetite. An individuals degree of eating-related obsessionality/compulsivity did not moderate any of these relationships. Findings highlight body checking as an immediate precursor of dangerous weight loss behaviors among individuals with AN, and underscore the need for clinicians to address body checking during treatment

Perfectionism And Eating Disorders: Current Status And Future Directions

The literature examining the relation between perfectionism and eating disorders was reviewed and content and methodological comparisons were made with the perfectionism literature in anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. A PsychInfo search using the key words perfectionism/ perfect/ perfectionistic, anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorders was performed and the generated list of papers was supplemented based on a review of reference lists in the papers. A total of 55 papers published between 1990 and 2005 were identified that assessed perfectionism among individuals with diagnosed eating disorders. The key research questions were distilled from these publications and empirical findings were summarized for each question, followed by a comparison with perfectionism papers in the anxiety and depressive disorder literatures. Also, key research design methodological parameters were identified and comparisons made across the three literatures: eating disorders, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders. The current review concludes with conceptual and methodological recommendations for researchers interested in perfectionism and eating disorders

Mediators of the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and body dissatisfaction in the natural environment

Social comparisons (i.e., body, eating, exercise) and body surveillance were tested as mediators of the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants were 232 college women who completed a 2-week EMA protocol, responding to questions three times per day. Multilevel path analysis was used to examine a 2-1-1 mediation model (thin-ideal internalization assessed as trait; between-person effects examined) and a 1-1-1 model (component of thin-ideal internalization [thin-ideal importance] assessed momentarily; within- and between-person effects examined). For the 2-1-1 model, only body comparison and body surveillance were significant specific mediators of the between-person effect. For the 1-1-1 model, all four variables were significant specific mediators of the within-person effect. Only body comparison was a significant specific mediator of the between-person effect. At the state level, many processes explain the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship. However, at the trait level, body comparison and body surveillance are more important explanatory factors

Is childhood trauma associated with lifetime suicide attempts in women with bulimia nervosa?

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between specific forms of childhood abuse and neglect with lifetime suicide attempts in women with bulimia nervosa (BN)

The role of interpersonal personality traits and reassurance seeking in eating disorder symptoms and depressive symptoms among women with bulimia nervosa

The role of interpersonal factors has been proposed in various models of eating disorder (ED) psychopathology and treatment. We examined the independent and interactive contributions of two interpersonal-focused personality traits (i.e., social avoidance and insecure attachment) and reassurance seeking in relation to global ED psychopathology and depressive symptoms among women with bulimia nervosa (BN)

Examining an elaborated sociocultural model of disordered eating among college women: The roles of social comparison and body surveillance

Social comparison (i.e., body, eating, exercise) and body surveillance were tested as mediators of the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship in the context of an elaborated sociocultural model of disordered eating. Participants were 219 college women who completed two questionnaire sessions 3 months apart. The cross-sectional elaborated sociocultural model (i.e., including social comparison and body surveillance as mediators of the thin-ideal internalization-body dissatisfaction relation) provided a good fit to the data, and the total indirect effect from thin-ideal internalization to body dissatisfaction through the mediators was significant. Social comparison emerged as a significant specific mediator while body surveillance did not. The mediation model did not hold prospectively; however, social comparison accounted for unique variance in body dissatisfaction and disordered eating 3 months later. Results suggest that thin-ideal internalization may not be “automatically” associated with body dissatisfaction and that it may be especially important to target comparison in prevention and intervention efforts

Self‐weighing behavior in individuals with eating disorders

ObjectiveTo describe the frequency of self-weighing and reactions to prescribed weekly weighing among individuals with eating disorder (ED) diagnoses, and to compare individuals weighing more or less frequently on mass index (BMI) and the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) subscales.MethodBaseline EDE and demographics from five studies (N = 758).ResultsSelf-weighing was most frequent among individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN), followed by those with bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). On average, participants reacted moderately negative to prescribed weekly weighing. No relationship between weighing frequency and BMI was evident in any sample. There was indication of greater pathology (i.e., restraint, shape concern, weight concern, global) in AN with more frequent weighing. In BN, mixed evidence emerged to support a relationship between more frequent weighing and higher shape concern, weight concern, and global score. In BED, higher restraint was found in those who weighed versus those who did not.DiscussionWeighing frequency in each eating disorder (ED) sample was to some extent associated with greater ED severity, but not BMI. Future research should examine relationships between self-weighing, reactions to changing weighing frequency, and ED symptomatology in both ED and non-ED groups to understand the impact of self-weighing in heterogeneous populations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2016; 49:817-821)

Therapeutic alliance in a randomized clinical trial for bulimia nervosa.

This study examined the temporal relation between therapeutic alliance and outcome in two treatments for bulimia nervosa (BN)