How do clinical specialists understand the role of physical activity in eating disorders?

Do dysfunctional coping modes mediate the relationship between perceived parenting style and disordered eating behaviours?

“…Previous studies have suggested that eating disorder behaviours may function either as primary or secondary avoidance strategies, whereby individuals restrict, purge or overexercise in a compulsive or ritualised manner [7, 14, 21, 46] either as a means to reduce the chances of schema activation, or as a secondary strategy to block emotional distress that results from bingeing or other dietary transgressions [38, 39, 54]. Within the context of the Detached Protector/Self-Soother modes, restrictive and compensatory eating behaviours can function as a form of primary or secondary emotional avoidance whilst generating soothing feelings of numbness, or in some cases euphoria [23, 42].…”

Exercise and physical therapy help restore body and self in clients with severe anorexia nervosa

“…In general, individual physical therapy interventions are based on a history taking and the findings from a body examination, or they can be adapted according to the particular needs of a group of clients. However, work based on body assessment and specific bodily concerns in the context of anorexia nervosa is sparse (Fisher and Schenkman, 2012;Hechler et al, 2005). Nevertheless, changing the way in which patients with anorexia nervosa experience their bodies is assumed to be an important indication for physiotherapy, and interventions aimed at modifying body awareness and bodily experiences have been proposed (Vandereycken et al, 1987;Beumont et al, 1994;Probst et al, 2013;Probst et al, 1995).…”

Disordered eating and exercise: Development and preliminary validation of the compulsive exercise test (CET)

“…At present, the prevailing view in the eating disorders field is that excessive exercise is primarily a weight‐control behaviour maintained by weight and shape concerns (e.g. Fairburn, Cooper, & Shafran, 2003; Hechler, Beumont, Marks, & Touyz, 2005), an assumption supported by clinical colleagues who routinely include exercise for weight and shape reasons in the clinical assessment of patients (e.g. Cooper & Fairburn, 1987; Fairburn & Beglin, 1994; Fairburn & Cooper, 1993; Waller et al, 2007).…”