No abstract

Suicide attempts and premature mortality due to suicide are elevated in people with eating disorders. Informed by the interpersonal theory of suicide, two studies examined the role of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness in explaining the association between eating disorder symptoms and suicide risk. Results indicated that various eating disorder symptoms had an indirect effect on suicide risk through perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Targeting perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness may be useful for decreasing suicide risk among undergraduates with eating disorder symptoms.

No abstract

The high rate of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among individuals with eating disorders is a well-documented and clinically significant phenomenon (Svirko and Hawton, Suicide Life Threat Behav 37:409-421, 2007). Several shared risk factors have been identified for disordered eating and NSSI. These common risk factors were examined within the context of etiological models that have the potential to explain why they so frequently co-occur. Thus, data on the relevance of the shared risk factors are reviewed within the framework of multiple conceptual models for eating disorders and/or NSSI. Moreover, empirical data and the explanatory potential for the overlapping nature of these maladaptive behaviors are evaluated for each model. A summary of the commonalities and limitations of the various etiological models is then presented. Finally, the chapter concludes by highlighting clinical implications and future directions for the advancement of knowledge regarding this pernicious problem, with a focus on the need for additional research and the development of integrative, comprehensive etiological models for non-suicidal self-injury and eating disorders.