The present study explored a potential mechanism for the relationship between stressors and binge eating: specifically, whether subjects with behaviors and attitudes reflecting disordered eating show distinctive psychologic or physiologic reactivity to stressors. Female undergraduates participated in a laboratory study involving four psychologically stressful tasks. Blood pressure and pulse rate were monitored, and several psychologic questionnaires were administered. Analyses revealed that the tasks provoked significant cardiovascular and affective responses in both high- and low-disordered eaters. There were no differences between groups in cardiovascular responsivity or mood state in response to diverse stressors. However, those with more disordered eating reported an increased desire to binge in response to the stressors, along with more global stress, lower self-esteem, and lower mastery than the comparison group. The results suggest that the increased desire to binge in response to stressors reported by subjects higher in disordered eating cannot be accounted for by differences in cardiovascular reactivity or negative hedonic state, relative to what subjects low in disordered eating showed in response to the same stressors.

Increasingly, investigators have sought to relate stress to the etiology and maintenance of bulimia. The current research literature on stress in general now views stress as a process that includes not only stimulus and response but mediators such as appraisal, control, coping, and social support that may predispose one to experience stress or to be more reactive to potential stressors. We suggest that viewing the stress process comprehensively may have heuristic value in the study of bulimia. Such an approach provides a clearly articulated, testable model and facilitates organization of a currently confusing literature. We review current research on stress and bulimia in this context and try to identify what knowledge exists, where the gaps are, and what kinds of questions must be asked in future research.

This study assessed the nature of elder impairment and its impact on the health and psychosocial functioning of family caregivers. All caregivers were daughters or daughters-in-law living with an elderly parent. Contrary to expectations and previous research, no differences were revealed among caregivers of cognitively impaired, functionally impaired, and nonimpaired elderly relatives in terms of self-reported health or psychosocial functioning. Thus, other aspects of the caregiving context, such as familial generation, gender, and living arrangement, may affect caregiver health and psychosocial functioning more than the nature of the elder's impairment.

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