Incidence and prevalence of eating disorders among U.S. military service members, 2016-2021.

Objective: Despite unique experiences that may increase eating disorder risk, U.S. military service members are an understudied population.

Emotional dysregulation moderates the relation between perceived stress and emotional eating in adolescent military dependents.

Objective: Adolescent children of US service members (i.e., military-dependent youth) face unique stressors that increase risk for various forms of disinhibited eating, including emotional eating.

The prospective relationship between weight-based discrimination and eating pathology among youth.

Among adults and adolescents, weight-based discrimination is associated with disordered eating. However, these relationships remain understudied in children. Given that weight-based discrimination is commonly reported among youth, and that childhood is a crucial developmental period for the onset of disordered eating, the current study assessed prospective associations between weight-based discrimination and eating pathology among participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Parents of children with high weight and disordered eating: Commentary on Wilksch (2023).

In Wilksch (International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2023), survey results from parents of youth with eating disorders (EDs) indicate that parents are often the first to detect their children's ED symptoms, and that they face barriers in accessing appropriate, timely treatment, and experience emotional and financial strain. Wilksch highlights gaps in research and practice, and identifies recommendations to mitigate them. We propose prioritizing similar recommendations for parents of children with higher weight (HW).

Associations of food reinforcement and food- related inhibitory control with adiposity and weight gain in children and adolescents.

Some, but not all studies have reported that, among youth with disordered eating and high weight, the relative reinforcing value of food (RRV-F, i.e., how hard a person will work for a high-energy-dense food when another reward is available) is greater, and food-related inhibitory control (i.

The Relationship Between Anxiety, Coping, and Disordered-Eating Attitudes in Adolescent Military-Dependents at High-Risk for Excess Weight Gain.

Adolescent military-dependents are an understudied population who face unique stressors due to their parents' careers. Research suggests that adolescent military-dependents report more anxiety and disordered-eating than their civilian counterparts. While anxiety symptoms predict the onset and worsening of disordered-eating attitudes, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear.

Influence of puberty on relationships between body composition and blood pressure: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) are positively associated with blood pressure (BP) in youth. Yet, how puberty, independent of age, affects these relationships remains unclear. Given puberty may be a crucial period for cardiometabolic health, we examined how pubertal development moderates the associations of FM/FFM with BP.

Stigma and Barriers in Health Care Among a Sample of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Active Duty Service Members.

Background: Transgender and/or gender-diverse (TGD) persons are vulnerable to stigma and health care inequities; however, data are particularly limited among TGD active duty military service members despite ongoing changes to service policies. TGD-related stressors may impede access to and utilization of health care due to fear of potential discrimination and distress, thereby adversely impacting military readiness.

Methods: We examined stigma and barriers in health care and associations with physical and mental health in an online sample of 177 active duty service members who self-identified as TGD.

An examination of volumetric and cortical thickness correlates of posttraumatic nightmares in male active duty service members.

Posttraumatic nightmares commonly occur after a traumatic experience. Despite significant deleterious effects on well-being and their role in posttraumatic stress disorder, posttraumatic nightmares remain understudied. The neuroanatomical structures of the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex constitute the AMPHAC model (Levin and Nielsen, 2007), which is implicated in the neurophysiology of disturbing dreams of which posttraumatic nightmares is a part.

Heart Rate Variability and Laboratory-Based Loss-of-Control Eating in Children and Adolescents.

Among youth, greater heart rate (HR) and lesser HR variability (HRV) are precursors to loss-of-control (LOC) eating episodes in the natural environment. However, there are limited data examining whether pre-meal HR and HRV are associated with greater LOC-eating in the laboratory setting. We therefore examined temporal relationships between pre-meal HR, frequency- and time-based metrics of pre-meal HRV, perceived LOC-eating, and energy intake during a meal designed to simulate a LOC-eating episode.

Associations among alexithymia, disordered eating, and depressive symptoms in treatment-seeking adolescent military dependents at risk for adult binge-eating disorder and obesity.

Purpose: Evidence suggests that difficulties identifying and describing one's feelings, core components of alexithymia, are associated with attitudinal and behavioral symptoms of disordered eating; depressive symptoms also may underlie these associations. Specifically, research indicates that alexithymia is positively related to depressive symptoms, which in turn may promote both disordered-eating attitudes and certain disinhibited-eating behaviors (e.g.

State negative affect in relation to loss-of-control eating among children and adolescents in the natural environment.

Affect regulation theory proposes that loss-of-control (LOC)-eating is preceded by increases and followed by decreases in negative affect (NA), but empirical tests of this theory among pediatric samples in the natural environment are needed. Using an ecological momentary assessment approach, we conducted post-hoc analyses to examine LOC-eating severity reported during post-meal surveys in relation to the intensity of composite NA and NA components (anger, anxiety, depression, guilt) throughout the day for two weeks in a cohort of healthy children and adolescents. Multilevel models tested the associations among LOC-eating severity and NA components reported at pre-meal surveys (t-1), post-meal surveys (t), and lagged post-meal surveys (t+1).

Loss-of-Control Eating and Cardiometabolic Health in Relation to Overweight and Obesity.

Purpose Of Review: Loss-of-control (LOC) eating, the subjective feeling of being unable to control what or how much is being consumed, is common. The purpose of this review was to examine the relationships among LOC eating, cardiometabolic health, and weight management intervention outcomes.

Recent Findings: In youth and adults, LOC eating is associated with and predictive of psychological symptoms, high weight, and worsened cardiometabolic health.

Examination of the Interaction between Parental Military-Status and Race among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Adolescents with Overweight/Obesity.

Objectives: Adolescent military-dependents experience distinct risk and protective factors, which may necessitate additional clinical considerations. In civilian youth, overweight/obesity is associated with eating, internalizing, and externalizing difficulties, with some studies reporting more difficulties among non-Hispanic White (vs. non-Hispanic Black) youth.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in children and adolescents with and without obesity.

Background/objectives: Previous research indicates that youth with obesity exhibit deficits in executive functioning (EF), which often take the form of impaired response inhibition. One aspect of EF not previously studied in obesity is the adaptive process known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), the suppression/inhibition of intrusive or non-target items by the retrieval of specific items from memory. The present study investigated if child or adolescent obesity disrupts the ability to inhibit retrieval of intrusive memories.

An exploration of homework completion in cognitive behavioral treatments for bulimia-spectrum eating disorders.

The impact of homework completion on outcome from cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) for eating disorders (EDs) is unknown. We examined homework completion during two CBTs for bulimia-spectrum EDs and tested the associations among homework and treatment outcomes. After each session, therapists rated the quantity of self-monitoring completed (e.

A closer look at homework compliance in behavior therapy for bulimia nervosa: does homework compliance in between-session period prospectively predict session-by-session change in bulimia symptoms?

Introduction: Homework assignments are considered key components of behavioral treatments for bulimia nervosa (BN), but little is known about whether homework compliance predicts BN symptom improvement. The present study is the first to examine whether session-by-session change in homework compliance predicts session-by-session changes in BN symptoms during behavioral treatment.

Method: Patients with BN-spectrum eating disorders ( = 42) received 20 sessions of behavioral treatment.

A comparison of negative affect and disinhibited eating between children with and without parents with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Children whose parents have type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at high-risk for developing T2D. In youth, negative affect has been shown to predict insulin resistance (IR), and disinhibited-eating behaviors have been linked to IR. It is unknown if youth with a parent with T2D (P-T2D) report greater psychological and behavioral symptoms than those without a P-T2D.

Eating expectancies and hedonic hunger among individuals with bulimia-spectrum eating disorders who plan binge-eating episodes.

Objective: Binge planning (BP; i.e., preparatory thoughts and actions to facilitate future binge-eating episodes) is hypothesized to distract individuals from negative affect and increase the salience of food.

Associations of sleep with food cravings and loss-of-control eating in youth: An ecological momentary assessment study.

Background: Inconsistent sleep patterns may promote excess weight gain by increasing food cravings and loss-of-control (LOC)-eating; however, these relationships have not been elucidated in youth.

Objective: We tested whether sleep duration and timing were associated with food cravings and LOC-eating.

Method: For 14 days, youths wore actigraphy monitors to assess sleep and reported severity of food cravings and LOC-eating using ecological momentary assessment.

Food cravings and loss-of-control eating in youth: Associations with gonadal hormone concentrations.

Objective: Among youth with overweight, food cravings (FC) are associated with loss-of-control (LOC)-eating, but the impact of sex-associated biological characteristics on this relationship is unknown. We examined whether sex and gonadal hormone concentrations moderated the relationships between FC and LOC-eating severity among healthy boys and girls across the weight strata in natural and laboratory environments.

Method: Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), FC, and LOC-eating severity were reported 3-5 times a day for 2 weeks.

Mindfulness and acceptance-based behavioral treatment for bulimia-spectrum disorders: A pilot feasibility randomized trial.

Objective: Although existing research supports the efficacy of mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments (MABTs) for eating disorders (EDs), few studies have directly compared outcomes from MABTs to standard CBT.

Method: Participants (N = 44), treatment-seeking adults with bulimia-spectrum EDs, were screened for eligibility, consented, and randomized to receive 20 sessions of outpatient, individual CBT or MABT treatment. Treatment outcomes (binge eating and compensatory behavior episodes, global ED severity, depressive symptoms, quality of life, emotional awareness/clarity, distress tolerance, values-based decision-making, and emotion modulation) were measured at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow up.