1,721,035 research outputs found
Editorial: COVID-19 and eating disorders 2023: lessons learnt and future directions for research
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Exploring body uneasiness in severe and enduring eating disorders: insights from clinical practice
Full text linkIntroduction: Body uneasiness is a central facet of body image disturbances observed in individuals with eating disorders (EDs). This study aimed to address gaps in understanding body uneasiness in severe and enduring eating disorders (SE-EDs) and explore variations in psychopathology between individuals with different durations of the disorder. We hypothesized that patients with SE-ED might develop habitual behaviors that contribute to ambivalence toward treatment and the persistence of symptoms. Methods: A sample of 360 ED patients was evaluated at the beginning and end of a specialized intensive rehabilitation program. All patients completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). They were divided into two groups: SE-ED (> 7 years) and acute (aED, < 3 years) duration. Results: Compulsive self-monitoring showed a significant change between the start and end of treatment, differing between groups, with a larger change observed in SE-ED (p < 0.048). In SE-ED, it was associated with lower chances of dropout (p = 0.044), opposite to aED (p = 0.009). Treatment responses were primarily related to eating psychopathology, further highlighting differences between the two groups. Conclusions: This study underscores the possible presence of a habit in SE-ED and the importance of tailoring interventions to address unique needs based on the duration of the disorder. Furthermore, it highlights the need for further research to improve treatment outcomes in SE-EDs
Understanding Bone Density Loss in Eating Disorders: Contributions of Weight Suppression and Speed of Weight Loss
No full textBackground/Objectives: Eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED), are associated with bone density loss. Weight suppression (WS) and weight loss speed (WLS) are two critical weight-related factors that may influence bone health, yet their relationship with bone density remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the associations between WS, WLS, and bone density in individuals with EDs, focusing on total body and spinal bone density. Methods: We examined 270 individuals with EDs (AN: n = 187, BN: n = 57, BED: n = 26) at the onset of inpatient treatment. WS and WLS were calculated from weight history, and bone density was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Regression analyses were performed separately for each diagnosis. Results: In AN, both WS and WLS were significant predictors of total (p = 0.001) and spinal (p = 0.007) bone density. WS and WLS independently predicted total bone density, with WS significantly predicting spinal bone density. In BN and BED, only WLS showed significant associations with bone density. Minimum weight was a key predictor of bone density in AN, underscoring the importance of avoiding extremely low body weight. Conclusions: WS and WLS significantly affect bone density in AN, with WLS also predicting bone density in BN and BED. These findings highlight the need to monitor weight-related factors across ED populations. In AN, avoiding extremely low body weight is crucial for preserving bone health, while in BN and BED, managing WLS is key to mitigating bone density loss
One year of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with eating disorders, healthy sisters, and community women: evidence of psychological vulnerabilities
Full text linkPurpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a psychological burden worldwide, especially for individuals with eating disorders (EDs). In addition, the healthy sisters of patients with EDs are known to present specific psychological vulnerabilities. This study evaluates differences between the general population, patients with EDs, and their healthy sisters. Method: A group of 233 participants (91 patients with EDs, 57 of their healthy sisters and 85 community women) was enrolled in an online survey on general and specific psychopathology 1 year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey examined associations between posttraumatic symptoms and depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, and eating-related concerns. Results: Clinically relevant scores for posttraumatic disorders were found in patients with EDs. Healthy sisters scored similarly to patients for avoidance. Regression analysis showed specific associations between interpersonal sensitivity and posttraumatic symptomatology in patients and healthy sisters, but not in community women. Conclusion: The psychological burden in patients with EDs is clinically relevant and linked to interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive–compulsiveness, and global symptom severity. Differences between patients, healthy sisters, and community women are discussed regarding vulnerability factors for EDs. Level of evidence: Level III: evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies
Time evaluation and its accuracy in eating disorders: differences in relation to interoceptive awareness
Full text linkPurpose: Time evaluation has been poorly studied in eating disorder (ED) patients despite its relationship with body awareness, which is a core psychopathological feature in EDs and is influenced by impulsivity, interoception, and working memory. This study aims to evaluate time estimation and its accuracy across the ED spectrum in connection with specific and general psychopathology. Methods: A group of 215 women was enrolled in a computerized task involving the estimation of 1-min intervals. Impulsivity and body awareness constructs (self-monitoring, depersonalization, interoceptive deficit) were evaluated and examined for significant correlations with time estimation and the accuracy of the measure. Results: Patients with EDs showed an impaired ability to estimate time, with an accuracy that positively correlated with compulsive self-monitoring (p = 0.03). Differences between diagnostic subgroups showed an overestimation of time in anorexia nervosa patients and an underestimation of time in binge eating disorder patients, whose time estimation was also less accurate. Conclusion: The relationship between time estimation and compulsive self- monitoring might corroborate the presence of an imbalanced integration of information in patients with EDs that was not present in the community women included in the study. Time perception should be further evaluated in the ED field, and longitudinal changes due to psychopathological recovery or BMI changes should be examined. Level of evidence: Level III: Evidence obtained from a well-designed cohort or case–control analytic study
Small-world properties of brain morphological characteristics in Anorexia Nervosa
No full textCortical thickness and gyrification abnormalities in anorexia nervosa (AN) have been recently described, but no attempt has been made to explore their organizational patterns to characterize the neurobiology of the disorder in the different stages of its course. The aim of this study was to explore cortical thickness and gyrification patterns by means of graph theory tools in 38 patients with AN, 20 fully recovered patients, and 38 healthy women (HC). All participants underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Connectome properties were compared between: 1) AN patients and HC, 2) fully recovered patients and HC, 3) patients with a full remission at a 3-year follow-up assessment and patients who had not recovered. Small-worldness was greater in patients with acute AN in comparison to HC in both cortical thickness and gyrification networks. In the cortical thickness network, patients with AN also showed increased Local Efficiency, Modularity and Clustering coefficients, whereas integration measures were lower in the same group. Patients with a poor outcome showed higher segregation measures and lower small-worldness in the gyrification network, but no differences emerged for the cortical thickness network. For both cortical thickness and gyrification patterns, regional analyses revealed differences between patients with different outcomes. Different patterns between cortical thickness and gyrification networks are probably due to their peculiar developmental trajectories and sensitivity to environmental influences. The role of gyrification network alterations in predicting the outcome suggests a role of early maturational processes in the prognosis of AN
Addressing Weight Bias in the Cisgender Population: Differences between Sexual Orientations
Full text link(1) Background: Weight bias (WB) is an implicit psychological construct that can influence attitudes, beliefs, body experience, and evaluation of specific psychopathology relationships. Sexual orientation has played a crucial role in developing and maintaining psychiatric conditions linked to body evaluation, but few studies have evaluated possible connected biases. Thus, the paper aims to assess potential relationships between sexual orientation and WB, looking at potential roles in specific psychopathology; (2) Methods: A total of 836 cisgender subjects participated in an online survey, aged between 18 and 42 years old. Two specific aspects of WB were evaluated with validated scales about beliefs about obese people and fat phobia. Demographic variables, as well as depression and eating concerns were evaluated; (3) Results: Gay men and bisexual women showed higher levels of fat phobia, depression, and eating concerns. Regression analysis showed that sexual orientation significantly predicted fat phobia (p < 0.001) and beliefs about obese people (p = 0.014); (4) Conclusions: This study confirms the vulnerability of gay men and bisexual women to cognitive bias about their own bodies, showing a potential vulnerability about body and weight concerns
Visuospatial Abilities in Eating Disorders
No full textA consistent body of research reports reduced ability in visuospatial processing in the eating disorder population. It has been hypothesized that this neurocognitive alteration may be a consequence of the eating disorder per se or an underlying trait-marker. Visuospatial difficulties, in particular weak central coherence (a bias towards detail-focusing thinking style), along with executive dysfunctions, have been proposed as endophenotypic traits for anorexia nervosa individuals. In particular, anorexia nervosa patients and their unaffected relatives show a specific detail-focused information processing bias along with a central coherence weakness, with limited ability to gain and integrate contextual information. In bulimia nervosa individuals’ visuospatial profile appears less compromised, and, if a dysfunction is present, it seems to characterize specifically bulimia nervosa individuals with a prior history of anorexia nervosa. Visuospatial abilities should be detected and addressed in specific treatment programs due to their potentially negative role in both treatment outcome and body image disturbance, which typically affect individuals on the whole eating disorders spectrum
Editorial: Eating disorders as a challenge for public health: from health policies to evidence-based treatments
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