Temporal stability of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire.

Objectives: The current study examined the stability and internal consistency of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) in a general population sample.

Methods: The EDE-Q was administered to a community sample of women aged 18-45 on two occasions, with a median test-retest interval of 315.0 days.

Beliefs of women concerning causes and risk factors for bulimia nervosa.

Objective: To examine the beliefs of women concerning causes and risk factors for eating-disordered behaviour.

Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a community sample of 208 women aged 18-45 years. Respondents were presented with a vignette describing a fictional person meeting diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) and were asked to indicate whether each of several factors was 'very likely', 'likely' or 'not likely' to be a cause of the problem described, which factor was most likely to be a cause, and whether particular subgroups of people would be 'more likely', 'less likely' or 'equally likely' to have or develop the problem described.

Nonresponse bias in a general population survey of eating-disordered behavior.

Objective: To investigate nonresponse bias in a two-phase epidemiologic study of eating-disordered behavior.

Method: Self-report questionnaires were delivered to a community sample of women aged 18-45 drawn from the electoral roll. Follow-up interviews were completed with a subgroup of respondents.

Beliefs of the public concerning the helpfulness of interventions for bulimia nervosa.

Objective: To examine the beliefs of women concerning the helpfulness of various possible interventions for bulimia nervosa.

Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a community sample of 208 women aged 18-45 years. Respondents were presented with a vignette describing a fictional person meeting diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa and were asked to indicate whether various persons, treatments, medications, and self-help activities would be helpful, harmful, or neither helpful nor harmful for the person described.

Investigation of epistasis between the serotonin transporter and norepinephrine transporter genes in anorexia nervosa.

Weight-restored patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) respond favorably to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, which justifies association studies of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4, alias SERT) and AN. Case-control studies suggest that the least transcriptionally active allele of the SERT gene promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) has an increased frequency in AN patients. However, this finding was not replicated with 55 trios (AN child+parents) and the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT).

Comparison of group and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy for patients with bulimia nervosa.

Objective: The clinical effectiveness of group and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for bulimia nervosa (BN) was compared.

Method: Sixty BN patients from hospitals and general practitioners in Sydney, Australia, were allocated randomly to group or individual CBT. Forty-four completed treatment (n = 22 in group CBT and n = 22 in individual CBT).

What kind of illness is anorexia nervosa?

With the best will in the world, it is difficult not to become disillusioned with the diagnostic system for eating disorders. Although repeatedly revised, diagnostic criteria such as those of DSM-IV or ICD10 are inadequate to describe the patient's condition. This essay critically appraises the historical development of eating disorders and challenges the widely held notion that bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa share a common psychopathology.