Psychosocial Risk Factors in the Development, Maintenance and Treatment Outcome of Eating Disorders


Book Description

Eating disorders (EDs) are mental disorders characterized by altered eating habits and excessive concerns about weight and body shape. They arise mainly during adolescence and predominantly affect females. The three most common types of EDs are: •Anorexia nervosa (AN), which is characterized by restriction of food intake, significant low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and disturbances in body shape and weight experience; •Bulimia nervosa (BN), which is characterized by recurrent binge-eating episodes followed by behaviors that compensate for the overeating (i.e., self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or extreme use of laxatives, enemas or diuretics), and self-evaluation based on body shape and weight; •Binge eating disorder (BED), which is characterized by the recurrence of binge-eating episodes without the use of compensatory behaviors for weight control, and feelings of distress, embarrassment and guilt. To date, researchers and clinicians agree that a multifactorial model is the most suitable for explaining the onset and maintenance of EDs. For example, a risk factor for BED may be lower parental care, as it may trigger greater confusion and uncertainty in responding to unpleasant emotional experiences. This contributes to an impaired personality development, more severe psychopathological symptomatology, and greater difficulty in both identifying and distinguishing feelings of hunger and satiety from other emotions. Attachment styles have also been explored in patients with EDs. According to the attachment theory, attachment insecurity could disrupt the ability to identify and express emotional states and might impair affect regulation skills (i.e. emotional dysregulation). Within the two main dimensions of attachment insecurity (i.e., attachment anxiety and avoidance), higher attachment anxiety is related to greater symptom severity in patients with AN and BN. Moreover, prior studies have examined impaired emotional competences (ECs), theory of mind (ToM) and metacognition, which refer to how individuals identify, express, understand, regulate, and use their emotions or those of significant others. These skills may also explain why attachment insecurity places individuals at greater risk of EDs. Although particular personality traits (i.e. impulsivity, perfectionism, self-esteem), attachment styles, trauma, and metacognition clearly play a role in the onset and maintenance of EDs, little is known about their associations and underlying mechanisms.




Fast Facts: Eating Disorders


Book Description

The earlier a person with an eating disorder is treated, the greater the likelihood of physical and psychological recovery. 'Fast Facts: Eating Disorders' guides the reader through the latest evidence in detection, diagnosis and efficacy of treatments for anorexia, bulimia and related disorders, including a practical overview of the: • risk factors – genetic, developmental and familial • questions to ask the patient • behavioral and physical signs and symptoms • screening tools and laboratory investigations • treatment goals and options. In this highly readable handbook, the two renowned authors demonstrate how a carefully coordinated and multidisciplinary intervention can be successful. They address the important role of primary care physicians and other frontline healthcare workers in detecting eating disorders, working with the treatment team and monitoring the patient, and the positive impact these services can have on the rate and level of recovery. Content: • Classification • Epidemiology • Etiology and pathogenesis • Diagnosis • General management principles • Treatment of anorexia • Treatment of bulimia • Course and prognosis • Other eating disorders • Research areas • Case studies • Useful resources




The Evaluation and Treatment of Eating Disorders


Book Description

This important volume addresses a growing problem prevalent in hospitalized patients--eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Experts present the latest findings on the theories, evaluation, and treatment of this pernicious syndrome. Clearly written and up-to-the-minute, this outstanding collection of interdisciplinary vantage points, overlapping theories, and program applications will be of great value to front-line clinicians. Also included are historical perspectives, the treatment and rehabilitation of eating disorders, characteristics of families with eating disorders, and much more.




Eating Disorders and Obesity in Children and Adolescents


Book Description

Get a quick, expert overview of best practices for diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders in children and adolescents. This concise resource by Drs. Johannes Hebebrand and Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann provides psychiatrists and pediatricians with current information in this increasingly important field, including practical sections on developmental aspects of eating disorders, symptomology, epidemiology, etiology and pathyphysiology, treatment and outcomes, and prevention. - Discusses general concepts for feeding, eating, and weight disorders; body weight and composition, appetite regulation, and the emergence of body perception and image. - Covers genetics of eating and weight disorders, influence of hormones, intergenerational effects, and food addiction. - Includes information on cognitive behavioral therapy, family-based therapies, early intervention, pharmacotherapy, bariatric surgery, and other treatments. - Consolidates today's available information on this timely topic into a single convenient resource.




The Developmental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders


Book Description

Although eating problems--ranging from body dissatisfaction and dieting to anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa--can begin and typically have their roots in childhood, theory and research in developmental psychopathology and developmental psychology have not received substantial attention in eating disorders research. This book provides crucial background material from both fields, and then makes direct applications to numerous aspects of the field of eating disorders including theory, research, treatment, and primary prevention. This book was born out of a transaction between frustration and optimism. The frustrations reflected the limitations of current knowledge about eating problems and disorders. Etiological "causes" which are sensitive and specific to eating disorders have been elusive. Although there is some understanding of risk factors, little is known about protective factors. This has made prevention, among other things, difficult. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying the association between risk factors and disordered eating are poorly understood. For example, it is known that women are at greater risk than men are, but clinicians are hard- pressed to get beyond gender-based speculations and demonstrate why this is true. The optimism grows from familiarity with the field of developmental psychopathology. It seems evident that this approach has much to offer the field of eating disorders. This book is an early step in the integration of developmental psychopathology into theorizing, research, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders. It addresses four specific goals: * to introduce the principles and methodologies of developmental psychopathology, * to review the work of developmental psychologists in several major areas of behavior relevant to understanding the causes, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders, * to apply developmental psychopathology principles to the area of eating disorders, both in the form of theoretical models and in specific areas/issues raised by developmental psychopathology, and * to discuss the implications of developmental approaches for prevention programs and treatments.




Assessment of Eating Disorders


Book Description

Concise and practical yet comprehensive, this unique book provides a clear framework and a range of up-to-date tools for assessing patients with eating disorders. Leading clinicians and researchers describe the nuts and bolts of using diagnostic interviews, standardized databases, structured instruments, self-report and family-based measures, medical and nutritional assessment, ecological momentary assessment, and strategies for evaluating body image disturbance. Concrete examples and sample forms are included throughout, and the concluding chapter discusses how to use assessment data in individualized treatment planning.




Eating Disorders


Book Description

Eating disorders are potentially life-threatening psychiatric illnesses commonly accompanied by serious medical problems. They typically appear during adolescence or early adulthood, a time when young people are heading to college or interviewing for a first job. Many people recover fully from eating disorders, but others become chronically ill, and symptoms can continue into middle age and beyond. Written by leading authorities in eating disorders research and treatment, Eating Disorders: What Everyone Needs to Know® answers common questions about eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, as well as a newly described condition, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Practical yet authoritative, the book defines the eating disorders, explains what we know about them based on the latest science, and describes how treatment works. Importantly, the book dispels common myths about eating disorders, such as the notion that they occur only amongst the affluent, that they affect only girls and women, or that they simply result from environmental factors such as the fashion industry and society's obsession with thinness. In reality, as the book explains, there is substantial evidence that eating disorders are brain-based illnesses that do not discriminate, and that they have been around for a very long time. Eating Disorders: What Everyone Needs to Know® is essential reading for those seeking authoritative and current information about these often misunderstood illnesses.




Eating Disorders and Obesity, Third Edition


Book Description

Acclaimed for its encyclopedic coverage, this is the only handbook that synthesizes current knowledge and clinical practices in the fields of both eating disorders and obesity. Like the prior editions, the significantly revised third edition features more than 100 concise, focused chapters with lists of key readings in place of extended references. All aspects of eating disorders and obesity are addressed by foremost clinical researchers: classification, causes, consequences, risk factors, and pathophysiology, as well as prevention, treatment, assessment, and diagnosis. ÿ New to This Edition *Reflects 15 years of important advances in both fields, including state-of-the-art intervention approaches and a growing focus on how the brain regulates eating behavior. *Dozens of entirely new chapters. *New topics: epigenetics, body weight and neurocognitive function, stress and emotion regulation, the gut microbiome, surgical devices for obesity, food labeling and marketing, and more. *Expanded coverage of prevention and policy.




Outcome Prediction of Eating Disorders: Can Admission Data Forecast Outcome Needs at Discharge


Book Description

Prior research has examined the eating disorders in terms of etiology, predictive factors, treatment modalities, clinical course, and outcome with variable results and minimal consensus. No research was found linking collected assessment data to discharge needs, nor was research addressing the impact of discharge planning on successful treatment outcome identified. The purpose of this study was to determine if data collected for individuals during the initial assessment phase of an eating disorders program could predict the nature of discharge needs at the time of treatment completion. Using a data collection tool developed by the researcher, a one time retrospective chart review of 29 female subjects treated in an outpatient eating disorders program between 1994 and 1996 was accomplished. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, descriptive statistics were used to assess the characteristics of the sample population, analysis of variance was employed to examine differences between diagnostic groups for particular variables and a Chi-square test was applied to test for associations. Probability levels were set at .05 for statistical significance and .10 to indicate a trend. Although limited by available data, several significant findings were noted. Women diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) had significantly higher admission Global Assessment of Functioning versus women with Anorexia Nervosa (AN); those with AN were positively linked to a family history of mood disorders; a significant relationship existed between BN and a family history of eating disorders and to brothers having a psychiatric history; a link between treatment involvement and a) discharge type and b) clinical outcome; and a positive relationship between those with AN and the lack of follow through with discharge plans.