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Comparing men and women with binge‐eating disorder and co‐morbid obesity
Author(s) -
Lydecker Janet A.,
Grilo Carlos M.
Publication year - 2018
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.22847
Subject(s) - binge eating , binge eating disorder , psychopathology , dieting , overeating , psychology , body mass index , bulimia nervosa , depression (economics) , eating disorders , psychiatry , obesity , disordered eating , clinical psychology , medicine , weight loss , macroeconomics , economics
Objective This study examined differences in clinical presentation of men and women with binge‐eating disorder (BED) who participated in treatment research at a medical‐school based program. Method Participants were 682 adults ( n = 182 men, n = 500 women) with DSM‐IV ‐defined BED. Doctoral‐level research clinicians assessed eating‐disorder psychopathology, including BED diagnosis, using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Disorders (SCID) and Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) interview. Research clinicians measured height and weight and participants completed a battery of established self‐report measures. Results Men had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) than women; women had significantly higher eating‐disorder psychopathology (EDE scales and global score) and depression than men. Differences in eating‐disorder psychopathology and depression remained higher for women than men after adjusting for race/ethnicity and BMI. Frequency of binge‐eating episodes, subjective binge‐eating episodes, and overeating episodes did not differ significantly by sex. Women had younger ages of onset for dieting and binge‐eating behaviors than men but ages of onset for obesity and BED did not significantly differ between men and women. Discussion There are some sex differences in clinical presentation and age‐of‐onset timeline of adults with BED. Men and women develop obesity and BED (at diagnostic threshold) around the same age but women begin dieting and binge‐eating behaviors earlier than men. At presentation for treatment for BED, men and women did not differ in binge‐eating frequency and although men and women differed significantly on BMI and eating‐disorder psychopathology, the magnitude of these differences was quite modest.