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What is this thing called BED? Current status of binge eating disorder nosology
Author(s) -
Devlin Michael J.,
Goldfein Juli A.,
Dobrow Ilyse
Publication year - 2003
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/eat.10201
Subject(s) - binge eating disorder , nosology , bulimia nervosa , psychology , psychopathology , binge eating , eating disorders , psychiatry , dsm 5 , clinical psychology , anorexia nervosa
Abstract Objective Although binge eating has been recognized as a clinically relevant behavior among the obese for more than four decades, the concept of binge eating disorder (BED) as a distinct psychiatric diagnosis is of much more recent origin. This article presents four ways of conceptualizing BED: a distinct disorder in its own right, as a variant of bulimia nervosa, as a useful behavioral subtype of obesity, and as a behavior that reflects psychopathology among the obese. It also summarizes the evidence supporting and disconfirming each model. Method The literature subsequent to the development of DSM‐IV regarding the reliability and validity of BED and related conditions was reviewed selectively. Results The preponderance of the evidence suggests that BED differs importantly from purging bulimia nervosa and that BED is not a strikingly useful behavioral subtype of obesity. Discussion Further study is needed to definitively determine the validity of BED as a distinct eating disorder. © 2003 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 34: S2–S18, 2003.