The relationship of momentary anger and impulsivity to bulimic behavior.

Past research has suggested that negative affect may be a causal factor for eating disordered behaviors. More specifically, research has shown that anger appears to be one aspect of negative affect that is particularly relevant in bulimic patients. Previous studies have also shown that the relationship between negative affect and eating disordered behaviors may partially depend upon personality variables such as impulsivity.

Personality traits after recovery from eating disorders: do subtypes differ?

Objective: We compared individuals recovered from anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) to determine characteristics that are shared by or distinguish eating disorder (ED) subtypes.

Method: Sixty women recovered for > or = 1 year from AN or BN were compared with 47 control women (CW). Assessments included the Yale-Brown-Cornell Eating Disorder Scale, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV.

Development and psychometric validation of an eating disorder-specific health-related quality of life instrument.

Objective: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been used increasingly as an outcome measure in clinical research. Although the generic quality of life instruments has been used in previous research, disease-specific instruments offer greater sensitivity and responsiveness to change than generic instruments. No such disease-specific instrument is currently available that applies to eating-disordered samples.

A study of patients with anorexia nervosa using ecologic momentary assessment.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to demonstrate the feasibility of studying subjects with anorexia nervosa (AN) using ecologic momentary assessment (EMA). A second goal of the current study was to conduct a preliminary investigation of a proposed model of anorexic behavior.

Method: Ten female participants with AN carried Palm top computers for an average of 2 weeks per participant.

An empirical analysis of eating disorders and anxiety disorders publications (1980-2000)--part II: Statistical hypothesis testing.

Objective: The current study compared the eating disorder literature and the anxiety disorder literature in terms of statistical hypothesis testing features in 1980, 1990, and 2000.

Method: Computer literature searches were conducted using PubMed and PsychInfo databases to identify relevant eating disorder and anxiety disorder articles published at each of the three time points. A total of 456 articles were randomly selected, including 228 articles each from the fields of eating disorders and anxiety disorders.

An empirical analysis of eating disorders and anxiety disorders publications (1980-2000)--part I: Research methods.

Objective: The current study compared the eating disorder and anxiety disorder literature in terms of research design and methodologic features in 1980, 1990, and 2000.

Method: Computer literature searches were conducted using PubMed and PsychInfo databases to identify relevant eating disorder and anxiety disorder articles published at each of the three time points. A total of 456 articles were randomly selected, including 228 articles from the eating disorder literature and the anxiety disorder literature.

Mood- and restraint-based antecedents to binge episodes in bulimia nervosa: possible influences of the serotonin system.

Background: In bulimic syndromes, binge episodes are thought to be caused by dietary restraint and negative moods. However, as central serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine: 5-HT) mechanisms regulate appetite and mood, the 5-HT system could be implicated in diet- and mood-based binge antecedents.

Method: We used hand-held computers to obtain repeated "online" measurements of eating behaviors, moods, and self-concepts in 21 women with bulimic syndromes, and modeled 5-HT system activity with a measure of platelet [3H]paroxetine-binding density.

Impulsivity and compulsivity in bulimia nervosa.

Objective: A primary objective of the current article is to investigate the relationship between impulsivity and compulsivity in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). A second goal is to explore the relationship between impulsivity and compulsivity and related psychiatric problems.

Method: Two-hundred four females with BN completed several measures of impulsivity and compulsivity as well as measures of personality, substance use, eating pathology, and depression.

A comparison of the effects of olanzapine and risperidone versus placebo on eating behaviors.

To thoroughly investigate the phenomenon of atypical antipsychotic associated weight gain, a feeding laboratory paradigm was developed. This study is a randomized, double-blind, parallel group trial comparing the tolerability and effects of a two-week exposure to olanzapine, risperidone or placebo on weight, resting energy expenditure (REE), and eating behaviors in 48 healthy human subjects. Subjects were randomized to receive olanzapine, risperidone, or placebo and titrated over four days to 10 mg/d, or 4 mg/d, respectively.

Personality subtyping and bulimia nervosa: psychopathological and genetic correlates.

Background: There is empirical evidence suggesting that individuals with bulimia nervosa vary considerably in terms of psychiatric co-morbidity and personality functioning. In this study, latent profile analysis was used to attempt to identify clusters of bulimic subjects based on psychiatric co-morbidity and personality.

Method: A total of 178 women with bulimia nervosa or a subclinical variant of bulimia nervosa completed a series of self-report inventories of co-morbid psychopathology and personality, and also provided a buccal smear sample for genetic analyses.

Diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa: looking ahead to DSM-V.

In considering possible revisions to the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN), questions can be raised regarding the 85% cutoff and consideration could be given to using a body mass index (BMI) score instead. The criterion most likely to change in the 4th ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association) is the amenorrhea criterion because this does not appear to add to the diagnostic specificity.

Personality and anorexia nervosa.

We provided a selective review of the relationship between anorexia nervosa (AN) and personality. They reviewed the existing empirical literature examining the relationship between AN and personality. In spite of continued methodologic challenges related to personality assessment, there appears to be a relatively common phenotype in restricting-type AN characterized by high degrees of obsessionality, restraint, and perfectionism.

Sexual trauma, spirituality, and psychopathology.

This study assessed the association between spirituality and psychopathology in a group of sexual abuse victims and controls with a focus on whether spirituality moderated the association between sexual trauma and psychopathology. Seventy-one sexual trauma victims were compared to 25 control subjects on spiritual well-being, the Eating Disorder Examination, the PTSD Symptom Scale, and the SCID-I/P. The data showed that the two groups did not differ in terms of spiritual well-being.

Impulsivity as a risk factor for eating disorder behavior: assessment implications with adolescents.

Objective: The aims of the current study were to determine if impulsivity serves as a risk factor for eating disorder behavior and to examine whether different risk outcomes are obtained depending on the assessment strategy used to measure impulsivity.

Method: Three independent studies are reported, each of which examined the relationship of impulsivity and eating disorder behavior in a prospective longitudinal design with adolescent subjects recruited from both public and private schools. Individuals displaying eating disorder behavior at initial assessments were not included in the analyses, to ensure that we were testing the role of impulsivity in the onset of eating disorder behavior.

Impact of weight loss and regain on quality of life: mirror image or differential effect?

Objective: To compare the impact of weight regain and weight loss on health-related quality of life.

Research Methods And Procedures: Subjects were 122 (106 women, 16 men) overweight and obese participants in a weight reduction program (phentermine-fenfluramine and dietary counseling) who had initially lost at least 5% of their total body weight and then regained at least 5% of their weight during the follow-up period. Follow-up periods ranged from 10 to 41 months (mean, 28 months).

Psychological and dietary treatments of binge eating disorder: conceptual implications.

Objective: The authors review the available literature on psychological and dietary treatment approaches for binge eating disorder (BED).

Methods: Studies were grouped according to psychological versus dietary approaches to BED. Studies were reviewed in terms of general implications, but particular emphasis was placed on drop-out rates, abstinence from binge eating, and weight loss.

Effects of sibutramine on binge eating, hunger, and fullness in a laboratory human feeding paradigm.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of sibutramine vs. placebo on binge-eating behavior, hunger, and satiety in patients who had problems with binge eating.

Research Methods And Procedures: Seven adult subjects who had problems with binge eating (mean age, 42 years) were randomly assigned to receive alternating sibutramine and placebo in a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study.

The eating disorders medicine cabinet revisited: a clinician's guide to appetite suppressants and diuretics.

Objective: This article explores the frequencies of use of alternative medications, available products, and their potential toxicities.

Method: Survey data were gathered from 39 consecutive patients diagnosed with bulimia nervosa who were seeking treatment. A survey of area outlets (health food stores, pharmacies, grocery stores) was conducted to establish a database of available agents.

Psychopathology and sexual trauma in childhood and adulthood.

This study evaluates the occurrence of psychopathology among 97 women who (1) experienced sexual abuse in childhood only, (2) were raped in adulthood only, (3) experienced both childhood sexual abuse and rape in adulthood, or (4) experienced no sexual trauma. Women were recruited from advertisements and assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/P) and the Modified PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report. Women who reported sexual trauma were significantly more likely to exhibit psychopathology than controls.

An evaluation of the relationship between mood and binge eating in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment.

Objective: Although many current theories of disordered eating focus on affective mechanisms, relatively little is known about the covariation of mood and eating in peoples' natural environments. This study examined the relationship between mood and binge eating behavior in the natural environment.

Method: Twenty-seven college students with subclinical binge eating behavior self-monitored their mood on a handheld computer seven times daily for 2 weeks.

Self-reports of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse in a nationally representative sample of US women.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe patterns of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a nationally representative sample of US adult women.

Method: The respondents were a national probability sample of 711 women, aged 26 years to 54 years, residing in noninstitutional settings in the contiguous 48 states. In a 1996 face-to-face interview survey, trained female interviewers asked each respondent whether she had experienced any sexual coercion by family members or nonfamily members while growing up; whether she believed that she had been sexually abused (by family members or others); and whether she had ever forgotten the CSA experiences and, if so, how she had subsequently remembered them.