The use of a vodcast to support eating and reduce anxiety in people with eating disorder: A case series.

Individuals with eating disorders have difficulty controlling obsessive intrusions and ritualistic behaviours relating to food and exercise. An imagery-based intervention using a vodcast (small video file played on a mobile phone or portable media device), with visual and aural components, was designed to target eating related psychopathology in a consecutive series of four patients. The vodcast was used to support consumption of a smoothie, both as a behavioural experiment and at home, in naturalistic circumstances.

A randomized controlled two-stage trial in the treatment of bulimia nervosa, comparing CBT versus motivational enhancement in Phase 1 followed by group versus individual CBT in Phase 2.

Objective: To conduct a randomized, controlled, two-stage trial in the treatment of bulimia nervosa, comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) versus motivational enhancement in Phase 1 followed by group versus individual CBT in Phase 2.

Methods: A total of 225 patients with bulimia nervosa or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) were recruited into a randomized controlled trial lasting 12 weeks with follow-ups at 1 year and 2.5 years.

Attentional bias, emotion recognition, and emotion regulation in anorexia: state or trait?

Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with difficulties in emotion recognition and regulation and with attentional biases to social affective stimuli. This study aimed to examine these factors in a group of women following long-term recovery from AN.

Methods: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes task, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and a computerized pictorial Stroop task (angry and neutral faces) were administered to 175 women: 50 with acute AN, 35 recovered from AN, and 90 healthy control subjects (HCs).

Serum glutamine, set-shifting ability and anorexia nervosa.

Background: Set-shifting is impaired in people with anorexia nervosa (AN), but the underlying physiological and biochemical processes are unclear. Animal studies have established that glutamatergic pathways in the prefrontal cortex play an important role in set-shifting ability. However, it is not yet understood whether levels of serum glutamatergic amino acids are associated with set-shifting performance in humans.

Neural correlates of body dissatisfaction in anorexia nervosa.

Body dissatisfaction is an important precipitating and maintenance factor in anorexia nervosa (AN) and behavioral studies suggest that a cognitive-affective component and a perceptual component (perceptual disturbance of one's own body) are both important in this pathophysiology. However, the functional neuroanatomy of body dissatisfaction in AN is largely unknown. This study has investigated self-other body-shape comparison to establish neural correlates of body dissatisfaction in patients with AN.

A randomised controlled trial of cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational interviewing for people with Type 1 diabetes mellitus with persistent sub-optimal glycaemic control: a Diabetes and Psychological Therapies (ADaPT) study.

Objectives: To determine whether (i) motivational enhancement therapy (MET) + cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) compared with usual care, (ii) MET compared with usual care, (iii) or MET + CBT compared with MET was more effective in improving glycaemic control when delivered by general nurses with additional training in these techniques.

Design: A three-arm parallel randomised controlled trial as the gold standard design to test the effectiveness of psychological treatments.

Setting: The recruiting centres were diabetes clinics in seven acute trusts in south-east London and Greater Manchester.

Association study of 182 candidate genes in anorexia nervosa.

We performed association studies with 5,151 SNPs that were judged as likely candidate genetic variations conferring susceptibility to anorexia nervosa (AN) based on location under reported linkage peaks, previous results in the literature (182 candidate genes), brain expression, biological plausibility, and estrogen responsivity. We employed a case-control design that tested each SNP individually as well as haplotypes derived from these SNPs in 1,085 case individuals with AN diagnoses and 677 control individuals. We also performed separate association analyses using three increasingly restrictive case definitions for AN: all individuals with any subtype of AN (All AN: n = 1,085); individuals with AN with no binge eating behavior (AN with No Binge Eating: n = 687); and individuals with the restricting subtype of AN (Restricting AN: n = 421).

A randomized controlled trial of internet-based cognitive-behavioural therapy for bulimia nervosa or related disorders in a student population.

Background: Bulimic eating disorders are common among female students, yet the majority do not access effective treatment. Internet-based cognitive-behavioural therapy (iCBT) may be able to bridge this gap.

Method: Seventy-six students with bulimia nervosa (BN) or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) were randomly assigned to immediate iCBT with e-mail support over 3 months or to a 3-month waiting list followed by iCBT [waiting list/delayed treatment control (WL/DTC)].

Exploring the neurocognitive signature of poor set-shifting in anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Poor set-shifting has been implicated as a risk marker, maintenance factor and candidate endophenotype of eating disorders (ED). This study aimed to add clarity to the cognitive profile of set-shifting by examining the trait across ED subtypes, assessing whether it is a state or trait marker, and whether it runs in families. A battery of neuropsychological tasks was administered to 270 women with current anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), women recovered from AN, unaffected sisters of AN and BN probands, and healthy control women.

Sensitivity to reward and punishment in eating disorders.

The aim of this review was to collate and summarise the self-report data regarding anomalies in sensitivity to reward and punishment in eating disorders (ED) with use of a meta-analysis where possible. Electronic databases were searched to December 2008. Studies were required to have a non-eating disorder healthy control group and include at least one self-report measure of sensitivity to reward or punishment in an eating disorder population.

Risk factors, correlates, and markers in early-onset bulimia nervosa and EDNOS.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the specific risk factors, correlates, and markers associated with the development of symptomatology of early-onset BN and subclinical BN.

Method: Two semi-structured interviews were used to examine symptomatology and antecedent factors of bulimic symptoms in a sample of British adolescents.

Results: Adolescents with early-onset eating pathology were significantly more likely to report an earlier age of menarche than those developing the disorder at the typical age, and were found to have a different pathway of symptom development.

Emotional functioning in eating disorders: attentional bias, emotion recognition and emotion regulation.

Background: Interpersonal processes, anxiety and emotion regulation difficulties form a key part of conceptual models of eating disorders (EDs), such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), but the experimental findings to support this are limited.

Method: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes task, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and a computerized pictorial (angry and neutral faces) Stroop task were administered to 190 women [50 with AN, 50 with BN and 90 healthy controls (HCs)].

Results: Those with an ED showed attentional biases to faces in general (medium effect), but specifically to angry faces over neutral faces (large effect) compared to HCs.

Emotional theory of mind and emotional awareness in recovered anorexia nervosa patients.

Objectives: To examine whether an impaired ability to infer emotion in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and difficulty with emotional theory of mind (eToM) are limited to the ill state or if this condition is a stable deficit that persists with recovery in adults with anorexia nervosa (AN). This is in keeping with observations of similarities between the disorders.

Methods: Twenty-four participants fully recovered from AN were compared against a sample of currently ill AN patients (n = 40) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 47) on forced-choice tasks assessing emotion recognition, basic or advanced eToM in other people, using sensory stimuli and on a written task measuring eToM ability for the self as well as for others.

Eating disorders.

This Seminar adds to the previous Lancet Seminar about eating disorders, published in 2003, with an emphasis on the biological contributions to illness onset and maintenance. The diagnostic criteria are in the process of review, and the probable four new categories are: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and eating disorder not otherwise specified. These categories will also be broader than they were previously, which will affect the population prevalence; the present lifetime prevalence of all eating disorders is about 5%.

Biological effects of a maternal ED on pregnancy and foetal development: a review.

The aim of this paper was to review the literature on the biological effects of a maternal eating disorder (ED) (and relevant comorbidities) in pregnancy on mothers and in particular on the foetus. We also aimed to highlight possible mechanisms of risk for long-term consequences in the offspring. Relevant literature was searched for using PubMed, PsychInfo and Google Scholar and manually through relevant research papers.

Childhood anxiety associated with low BMI in women with anorexia nervosa.

Objective: Extremely low body mass index (BMI) values are associated with increased risk for death and poor long-term prognosis in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN). The present study explores childhood personality characteristics that could be associated with the ability to attain an extremely low BMI.

Methods: Participants were 326 women from the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa (GAN) Study who completed the Structured Interview for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimic Syndromes and whose mother completed the Child Behavioral Checklist and/or Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey.

Childhood risk factors in Korean women with anorexia nervosa: two sets of case-control studies with retrospective comparisons.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) in Korean women.

Method: Two sets of case-control comparisons were conducted, in which 52 women with lifetime AN from Seoul, S. Korea, were compared with 108 Korean healthy controls and also with 42 women with lifetime AN from the UK in terms of their childhood risk factors.

Expressed emotion in relatives of patients with eating disorders following skills training program.

Objective: The first aim of this work was to examine whether high expressed emotion (EE) would be associated with psychological distress and negative appraisal of caregiving. The second aim was to examine whether could replicate the findings of (Uehara et al., Compr Psychiatr, 42, 132-138, 2001) regarding a reduction in EE in association with a psycho-educational intervention.

Development and validation of the accommodation and enabling scale for eating disorders (AESED) for caregivers in eating disorders.

Background: Families of people with eating disorders are often caught up in rule bound eating and safety behaviours that characterise the illness. The main aim of this study was to develop a valid and specific scale to measure family accommodation in the context of having a relative with an eating disorder.

Methods: A new scale, the Accommodation and Enabling Scale for Eating Disorders (AESED), was jointly generated by professionals and expert carers through qualitative analysis.

Male eating disorders and therapy: a controlled pilot study with one year follow-up.

Objectives: To examine whether outpatient treatment for male patients with bulimic symptomatology is as effective as it is for females.

Method: The outcome of 19 male patients was compared to that of 150 female eating disorder (ED) individuals after a group CBT treatment.

Results: A reduction in ED symptomatology was observed after treatment for both genders.

Emotion recognition and regulation in anorexia nervosa.

It is recognized that emotional problems lie at the core of eating disorders (EDs) but scant attention has been paid to specific aspects such as emotional recognition, regulation and expression. This study aimed to investigate emotion recognition using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) task and emotion regulation using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) in 20 women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 20 female healthy controls (HCs). Women with AN had significantly lower scores on RME and reported significantly more difficulties with emotion regulation than HCs.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy for adolescents with bulimic symptomatology: the acceptability and effectiveness of internet-based delivery.

Background: The evidence base for the treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa (BN) is limited.

Aims: To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical outcomes of a web-based cognitive-behavioural (CBT) intervention for adolescents with bulimic symptomatology.

Method: 101 participants were recruited from eating disorders clinics or from beat, a UK-wide eating disorders charity.

Meta-analysis on drugs in people with eating disorders.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether drug use (DU) is higher in people with eating disorders (EDs) compared to a healthy control group and to perform a meta-analysis on the literature related to DU in people with EDs.

Method: We searched electronic databases (Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and CINAHL) and reviewed studies published from 1994 to August, 2007, in English, German or Spanish. A total of 16 papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included.