Psychiatric disorders associated with risk for the development of eating disorders during adolescence and early adulthood.

Abstract

Longitudinal data were used to investigate whether anxiety, depressive, disruptive, personality, or substance use disorders are associated with risk for the development of eating disorders during adolescence or early adulthood. Psychiatric disorders were assessed among 726 youths from a random community sample during adolescence and early adulthood. Depressive disorders during early adolescence were associated with elevated risk for the onset of eating disorders, dietary restriction, purging behavior, and recurrent weight fluctuations after preexisting eating problems and other psychiatric disorders were controlled statistically. Disruptive and personality disorders were independently associated with elevated risk for specific eating or weight problems. The present findings suggest that depressive disorders during early adolescence may contribute to the development of eating disorders during middle adolescence or early adulthood.

Experimental test of the affect‐regulation theory of bulimic symptoms and substance use: A randomized trial

“…These findings echo the evidence from double-blind randomized treatment trials that suggest that anti-depressant medications result in significant decreases in bulimic symptoms among adults meeting full diagnostic criteria for this eating disorder. 47 These findings also converge with the evidence that depressive symptoms predict onset of bulimic pathology 6,8,48 and may be cautiously interpreted as evidence that depression promotes bulimic symptoms.…”

Prospective Relations Between Bulimic Pathology, Depression, and Substance Abuse: Unpacking Comorbidity in Adolescent Girls.

“…These null findings converge with the evidence that substance abuse did not predict onset of eating pathology in adulthood (Johnson, Cohen, Kotler et al, 2002).…”

The Relation between Eating- and Weight-Related Disturbances and Depressive Symptoms among Early and Late Adolescents

“…Another objective of the study was to investigate the relation between EWRDs and depression alongside two well-studied risk factors for depression, namely, pubertal status and self-esteem. Overall, the results support previous findings in the literature suggesting a link between maladaptive body weight regulation strategies and depression and important gender and age differences [11,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]26]. Maladaptive body weight regulation strategies were significantly associated with depressive symptoms among early adolescent boys and girls and among late adolescent girls after accounting for pubertal status, BMI, and selfNote.…”

“…Some research on the relation between EWRDs and depression has focused on cognitive measures of EWRDs, namely body image and body dissatisfaction [11,[15][16][17]. Researchers have also expanded the measurement of EWRDs to include maladaptive body weight regulation strategies and have found support for the prospective relation between both types of EWRDs and depression in adolescence [14,[18][19][20][21]. For example, some adolescent girls engage in cigarette smoking because of the belief that it helps to regulate body weight, and girls who smoke and have weight concerns are at increased risk for developing depression [22].…”