The relationship of partial syndrome eating disorders to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

Abstract

SYNOPSISA variety of sociocultural, familial and individual features associated with the eating disorders were examined in subjects with full syndrome (FS) and partial syndrome (PS) eating disorders and in normal high school students. The EAT-26 was administered to 995 high school students. This was followed by individual interviews with those who scored in the symptomatic range. Fifty-one students with PS eating disorders, 57 students without eating disorders (normal controls) and 30 hospital patients with FS, anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa were compared on subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Diagnostic Survey for Eating Disorders and the Beck Depression Inventory. The three groups displayed statistically significant differences on dimensions of EDI subscales Ineffectiveness and Interoceptive Awareness and also with respect to depression, history of being overweight and past history of emotional problems, as well as having mothers with medical illnesses. On these characteristics, the FS subjects displayed higher levels than the PS subjects, who in turn were higher than the NC subjects. The PS subjects displayed elevations on Body Dissatisfaction (EDI subscale), past medical illnesses, and mother's over-concern with eating and weight. These data support a continuum model of the eating disorders, but a continuum of multiple associated features rather than of dieting.

Reducing the Risk of Disordered Eating Among Female College Students: A Test of Alternative Interventions

“…An EDNOS diagnosis implies that an individual exhibits all the characteristics of anorexia or bulimia with the exception of one symptom or behavior (i.e., has regular menses instead of amenorrhea, weight is in a normal range, less frequent binging, etc.). Research studies have suggested that although individuals with EDNOS do not meet formal diagnostic criteria for AN or BN, these individuals possess clinically significant symptomology warranting professional attention (APA, 1994;Dancyger & Garfinkel, 1995;Franko & Omori, 1999).…”

“…As compared to the overall general population and male college students, research has demonstrated that eating pathology prevalence rates are significantly higher among female college students (Dancyger & Garfinkel, 1995). According to Mintz and Betz (1988), 3% of college women reported clinical levels of bulimia and 69 to 73% engage in dieting behaviors.…”

“…At any point in time, 40-45% of girls and young women are trying to lose weight through various means motivated by "normative" body dissatisfaction (French, Story, & Neumark-Sztainer, 1997;Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986). Killen, Hayward, & Taylor, 1998), and prevalence rates are much higher among female college students than in the general population or among men (Dancyger & Garfinkel, 1995).Longitudinal studies have shown that women in college are more likely to identify themselves as overweight, report higher body dissatisfaction, and be at greater risk to engage in disordered eating than women who are not (Heatherton et al, 1997;Vohs, 2001). Moreover, many college students experiencing disordered eating behaviors doubt their symptoms warrant treatment and thus do not pursue therapy (Becker, Franko, Nussbaum, & Herzog, 2004;Meyer, 2005).…”

“…At any point in time, 40-45% of girls and young women are trying to lose weight through various means motivated by "normative" body dissatisfaction (French, Story, & Neumark-Sztainer, 1997;Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, & Rodin, 1986). Killen, Hayward, & Taylor, 1998), and prevalence rates are much higher among female college students than in the general population or among men (Dancyger & Garfinkel, 1995).…”

“…Further, approximately 90 % of individuals who present for eating disorder treatment are female (Lewinsohn, Striegel-Moore, & Seeley, 2000;Mussell, Binford, & Fulkerson, 2000;Stice, Killen, Hayward, & Taylor, 1998), and prevalence rates are much higher among female college students than in the general population or among men (Dancyger & Garfinkel, 1995).…”