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Natural course of a community sample of women with binge eating disorder
Author(s) -
Cachelin Fary M.,
StriegelMoore Ruth H.,
Elder Katherine A.,
Pike Kathleen M.,
Wilfley Denise E.,
Fairburn Christopher G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199901)25:1<45::aid-eat6>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - binge eating disorder , psychopathology , binge eating , psychology , eating disorders , psychiatry , sexual abuse , obesity , clinical psychology , bulimia nervosa , medicine , poison control , injury prevention , environmental health
Objective A community sample of women with binge eating disorder (BED) was followed for a period of 6 months, in order to examine the natural course of the disorder. Method Baseline, 3‐, and 6‐month assessments were conducted. The following variables were examined: eating disorder symptomatology, importance of weight or shape, psychopathology, social adjustment, childhood sexual abuse, childhood obesity, parental obesity, and parental psychopathology. Results After the 3‐month follow‐up, 10 of the original sample of 31 participants dropped out of the study; drop‐outs were more likely to have reported a history of sexual abuse. Of the 21 remaining participants, 11 continued to suffer from full‐syndrome BED at 6‐month follow‐up, while the remaining 10 appeared to be in partial remission. There were no significant baseline predictors of outcome. Conclusion It appears that for some women with BED, the eating disorder improves with a decrease in binge eating and importance of weight or shape. For others, the eating disorder symptoms remain constant. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 25:45–54, 1999.