The transition to college has been identified as a critical period for increases in overweight status. Overweight college students are at-risk of becoming obese adults, and, thus prevention efforts targeting college age individuals are key to reducing adult obesity rates. The current study evaluated an Internet intervention with first year college students (N = 170) randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: 1) no treatment, 2) 6-week online intervention 3) 6-week weight and caloric feedback only (via email), and 4) 6-week combined feedback and online intervention. The combined intervention group had lower BMIs at post-testing than the other three groups. This study demonstrated the effectiveness and feasibility of an online intervention to prevent weight gain among college students.

The aspect of perfectionism captured by scores on a subscale measuring concern over mistakes may be particularly associated with eating disorders and not generically predictive of psychopathology.

Objective The comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders (EDs) is high among women but has been understudied in men. Little is known about the association between partial or subthreshold PTSD and EDs among women or men. Method This study included PTSD and ED data from male (n=2382) and female (n=3310) National Comorbidity Survey-Replication study participants. Results The vast majority of women and men with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED) reported a history of interpersonal trauma. Rates of PTSD were significantly higher among women and men with BN and BED. Subthreshold PTSD was more prevalent than threshold PTSD among women with BN and women and men with BED. Discussion Interpersonal forms of trauma, PTSD, and subthreshold/partial PTSD, were prevalent among men and women with EDs. Findings highlight the importance of assessing for trauma and PTSD in ED patients.

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Although disordered eating behaviors are relatively common among college women, many questions about their etiology remain. In the present study, structural equation modeling was used to investigate potential mediating associations among variables previously found to be associated with the continuum of disordered eating behaviors in a large sample of college women. Results indicated that family conflict, family cohesion, and childhood physical and emotional abuse and neglect were not directly associated with disordered eating. Rather, their association with disordered eating was mediated by alexithymia and depression. These results were cross-validated in a second sample of college women. These data highlight the complexity of disordered eating and provide future directions for the prevention and treatment of the continuum of disordered eating behaviors.