Search

Individuals with bulimia nervosa report elevated rates of childhood maltreatment, which appears to increase risk for co-occurring substance use problems and negatively impact clinical course. The current study sought to examine the mechanistic pathways by which specific forms of childhood maltreatment may give rise to substance use problems among individuals with bulimic-spectrum pathology. Women with bulimic-spectrum disorders (N = 204) completed measures of childhood trauma, emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, and substance use. Path analysis was used to examine emotion dysregulation and impulsivity as mediators of the relationship between distinct forms of childhood trauma (physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse) and the presence of problematic alcohol/drug use. In the full path model, significant pathways from childhood emotional abuse to emotion dysregulation, childhood emotional neglect to impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation to problematic substance use emerged. Further, emotion dysregulation significantly mediated the relationship between emotional abuse and substance use. Results indicate that emotion dysregulation may be an important mechanism linking a history of childhood emotional maltreatment to later eating and substance use problems, and therefore may be an important treatment target among individuals with co-occurring eating and substance use concerns.Childhood emotional abuse was related to greater emotion dysregulation.Childhood emotional neglect was related to greater impulsivity.Emotion dysregulation was related to greater problematic substance use.Emotional abuse may impact substance use through emotion dysregulation.Creating emotion dysregulation may improve substance and eating disorder symptoms.

Childhood maltreatment appears to increase the risk for eating disorders (EDs). The current study examined potential moderating factors (i.e., self-discrepancy and negative self-directed style), which may increase or decrease the impact of maltreatment (i.e., emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse) on later ED symptoms. One hundred seven men and women with binge-eating disorder (BED) completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment, self-discrepancy, negative self-directed style, and ED pathology. Linear regression was used to examine the moderating role of self-discrepancy and negative self-directed style in the associations between each type of abuse and level of ED severity. Actual:ought self-discrepancy (i.e., the difference between one's self and who one believes they ought to be) moderated the relationships between ED pathology and emotional abuse (β =.26 p =.007), as well as physical abuse (β =.23, p =.02). Results suggest that the relationship between childhood abuse (i.e., emotional abuse, physical abuse) and ED pathology may be stronger for those with higher levels of actual:ought self-discrepancy. Further clarification of the relationships between actual:ought self-discrepancy and distinct forms of childhood abuse is needed, as well as intervention studies examining whether targeting actual:ought self-discrepancy provides an additional benefit for trauma-exposed individuals with BED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to stigma, eating disorders are under-researched, underdiagnosed and undertreated among men. This is particularly pertinent among athletes, as athletic goals are a major risk factor for disordered eating in men. This gender stereotype may be reinforced by eating disorder risk assessment tools that better reflect female symptoms. We examine an eating disorder risk assessment questionnaire in a population of athletes to assess both (1) gender bias in individual items and (2) gender differences on a cognitive and behavioral subscale, identified through a factor analysis. Controlling for eating disorder risk, we found that female gender significantly predicted high risk scores on four items; male gender significantly predicted high risk scores on four other items. We also found that women were more likely to score above the median on a cognitive subscale than men with the same level of eating disorder risk, while men were more likely to score above the median on a behavioral subscale. These results may be applied practically to allow eating disorder risk assessment tools to better capture eating disorder risk independent of gender. These methods may be applied to other questionnaires and other social identities, to expand the scope of eating disorder research and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the cross-sectional associations between gender-linked personality traits and use of products for weight loss and muscle building using data from young adults participating in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health who completed the short-form Bem Sex-Role Inventory (n = 3,343). Among men, a higher score on the masculinity scale was associated with greater odds of diet pill use, legal performance-enhancing substance (PES) use, and illicit PES use, while a higher score on the femininity scale was associated with lower odds of illicit PES use. These findings can inform interventions for men with weight/shape concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]