Determinants of binge eating and its impact on indicators of obesity among Finnish adolescents - a cohort study.

Background: Binge eating, a type of disordered eating, is relatively common among youth and predisposes them to many adverse health outcomes. Diverse psychological and social factors may be associated with binge eating. The aim of this study was to examine child and parental psychosocial determinants of binge eating and its impact on indicators of obesity.

Effects of family-based treatment on adolescent outpatients treated for anorexia nervosa in the Eating Disorder Unit of Helsinki University Hospital.

Background: Family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) has stronger evidence of efficacy in comparison with individual therapy, and family-based treatment (FBT) is the most evaluated in numerous randomized clinical trials. However, few studies have focused on how FBT performs outside of research settings. The current study is the first to assess clinical outcomes of FBT for adolescent AN in Finland, in a specialized outpatient clinic.

A novel outpatient treatment model for patients with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa: an observational study of patient characteristics, treatment goals, and treatment course.

Background: Approximately 20-30% of people with anorexia nervosa develop an enduring form of the disorder. In the present study a newly developed outpatient treatment unit for patients with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa was described. The treatment model is flexible, patient-centered, and aims at enhancing quality of life, maintaining medical stability, and minimizing harm.

Cognitive Behavioral and Cognitive Remediation Strategies for Managing Co-Occurring Anorexia Nervosa and Elevated Autism Spectrum Traits.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a potentially severe eating disorder whose core characteristics include energy intake restriction leading to low body weight. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication as well as repetitive, stereotyped behavior and interests. Both high ASD traits and diagnosed ASD are overrepresented among individuals with AN, and AN and ASD appear to share certain neurocognitive features.

Characteristics of autism spectrum disorders are associated with longer duration of anorexia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with neuropsychological characteristics such as impairments in central coherence, cognitive flexibility, and emotion recognition. The same features also manifest in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and have been suggested to be associated with illness prolongation in AN. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine whether pronounced neuropsychological characteristics related to ASD are associated with illness duration in AN.

A Comparison of Personality, Life Events, Comorbidity, and Health in Monozygotic Twins Discordant for Anorexia Nervosa.

Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the etiology of anorexia nervosa (AN). The co-twin control design is one of the most powerful methods available to evaluate environmental factors that could contribute to differences between monozygotic (MZ) twins who are discordant for AN. Using available data from a unique and rare sample of 22 Swedish female MZ pairs discordant for AN, we compared personality, life events, comorbidity, and health factors.

[Effect of sex reassignment on mental well-being and quality of life].

Transgender people find their natal sex and the corresponding gender role unpleasant and alien, and wish to be able to live in the gender role and body of the other sex. Gender dysphoria is effectively alleviated by sex reassignment treatments. Quality of life is improved among the majority of patients, and regrets are rare.

Readiness and motivation for change among young women with broadly defined eating disorders.

Readiness and motivation for change were examined in 32 women with broadly defined eating disorders who took part in a 10-week Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based group intervention. Readiness for change and eating disorder psychopathology were assessed before and after the intervention. The results revealed significant negative associations between degree of eating disorder symptoms and degree of readiness for change before the intervention started.

Binge eating and menstrual dysfunction.

Objective: The relation between eating disorders and menstrual function has been widely studied, but it is unknown whether the behavior of binge eating itself is related to menstrual dysfunction.

Methods: The 11,503 women included in this study were from the Swedish Twin study of Adults: Genes and Environment. The associations between menstrual dysfunction and binge eating were analyzed using logistic regression or multiple linear regression models with generalized estimation equations.

NURTURE: development and pilot testing of a novel parenting intervention for mothers with histories of an eating disorder.

Objective: To describe the treatment development and pilot testing of a group parenting intervention, NURTURE (Networking, Uniting, and Reaching out To Upgrade Relationships and Eating), for mothers with histories of eating disorders.

Method: Based on focus group findings, extant research, and expert opinion, NURTURE was designed to be delivered weekly over 16 (1.5 h) sessions via an interactive web conferencing forum.

Disordered eating and gender identity disorder: a qualitative study.

The association between disordered eating and gender identity was examined in a sample of 20 (11 female-to-male, 9 male-to-female) transgender Finnish adults, aged 21-62 years. Using semi-structured interviews, participants' own understanding of the underlying causes of their disordered eating was analyzed, as well as the effect of gender reassignment on eating behaviors and cognitions. A majority of the participants reported current or past disordered eating.

The adult body: how age, gender, and body mass index are related to body image.

OBJECTIVE. Body image and perceived attractiveness were examined, and the impact of age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) was analyzed and discussed from an evolutionary and a sociocultural perspective. METHOD.

Indicators of premature ejaculation and their associations with sexual distress in a population-based sample of young twins and their siblings.

Introduction: Recently, in anticipation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V, much consideration has been given to the diagnostic criteria for premature ejaculation (PE). The scientific community is yet to agree not only on the etiology of PE, but also on the most suitable diagnosis and forms of treatment. It has been suggested that the diagnostic criteria of PE should be strictly empirical and rely on intravaginal latency time alone, whereas others stress the need to also include psychological and personal factors.

Genetic and environmental effects on sexual excitation and sexual inhibition in men.

The Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) measure the propensity for sexual inhibition and excitation in men. According to the theoretical model underlying the SIS/SES, sexual response and associated behavior depend on dual control mechanisms in the brain involving the balance of excitatory and inhibitory systems which impinge on sexual response. Previous research with the SIS/SES has indicated one higher-order excitatory factor and two higher-order inhibitory factors affecting sexual response.

Premature and delayed ejaculation: genetic and environmental effects in a population-based sample of Finnish twins.

Introduction: A number of different theoretical approaches to understanding the etiology of ejaculatory dysfunction have been proposed, but no behavior genetic study has yet, to our knowledge, been conducted to explore the genetic and environmental influences on ejaculatory dysfunction.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore the genetic and environmental effects on premature (PE) and delayed (DE) ejaculation in a population-based sample.

Methods: The genetic and environmental influences on PE and DE were investigated in a population-based sample of 1,196 Finnish male twins, age 33-43 years, with 91 identical and 110 complete twin pairs.

Genetic effects on male sexual coercion.

The genetic and environmental influences on sexual coercion, and to what extent its associations with alcohol use and psychopathy depend on shared genetic and environmental effects, were explored in a Finnish population-based sample of 938 men, aged 33-43 years, using the classical twin study design. All three phenotypes were associated positively and affected by genes (sexual coercion 28%, alcohol use 60%, psychopathy 54%), with 46% of the correlation between sexual coercion and psychopathy, 89% of the correlation between alcohol use and psychopathy and 100% of the correlation between sexual coercion and alcohol use being explained by shared genetic effects. Further, the results showed that a proportion of the variance in sexual coercion was derived from a highly genetic source that was common with alcohol use and psychopathy.