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Objective Across diverse clinical problems, therapists' autonomy support has been found to increase patients' autonomous motivation for change. Being self-motivated has, in turn, been linked to superior treatment response. In people undergoing outpatient eating disorder (ED) treatment, we examined associations among ratings of autonomy support received from therapists and other carers, self-reported engagement in therapy, and clinical outcomes. Method Ninety-seven women with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or a related ED provided measures of motivational status and clinical symptoms at the beginning and end of time-limited (12-16 weeks) segments of specialized treatment. At mid-treatment, patients also rated the extent to which they perceived their individual therapists, group therapists, group-therapy peers, family members, friends, and romantic partners as being autonomy supportive. Results Overall, multiple regression analyses indicated autonomy support to moderate (rather than mediate) the link between initial autonomous motivation and later change in autonomous motivation-with results indicating that, independently of ED diagnosis or treatment intensity, greater perceived autonomy support (from therapists and nontherapists alike) coincided with larger increases in autonomous motivation over the course of therapy. In turn, higher autonomous motivation at end-of-therapy coincided with larger reductions in eating symptoms. Discussion Findings suggest that the experience of autonomy support (from therapists and nontherapists) is associated with increasing motivation in people undergoing ED treatment, and that becoming self-motivated is linked to better outcomes. Such results indicate that support from therapists, relatives, and peers can favorably influence personal engagement in individuals undergoing ED treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the treatment of eating disorders (ED) with evidence-based techniques and practices within the field of psychotherapy. Topics, including health interventions, hospitalization of ED patients, self-contempt and shame in ED patients, family-based treatment (FBT) of ED patients and in-patient weight restoration, are discussed.

This review identified and synthesized published training programs on eating disorders (ED) (anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa) for professionals, natural supporters of people with ED, or the public. A scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework was conducted. Four data bases were searched, for all years, and manual searches from three additional sources were also conducted. Experts on ED were consulted for validation of the identified studies. A narrative synthesis was performed. A total of 20 evaluation studies from five countries were identified, and reviewed in relation to 14 ED training programs. Characteristics of the training programs, and study characteristics, were highly diverse, as shown on Table 1 which compiles results from the charted data. Evaluations were equally divided between training for healthcare and education professionals (9), and training for families or other carers of people with ED (10). One study evaluated ED training for the general public. We found that training orientation varies with the interests and needs of different trainee groups. While most studies assessed trainee outcomes, future research needs to give greater consideration to patient perspectives, and to the relationship between training and evaluation approaches, improved knowledge, and better care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends an earlier investigation on the link between familial traits and eating disorders (EDs), and examines the extent to which selected eating attitudes and psychopathological traits are (a) familial in nature and (b) specific to anorexia- and bulimia-spectrum disorders. A principal components analysis (PCA), used to reduce variables and to characterize main sources of variation, yielded three interpretable factors: eating concerns and symptoms (grouping all eating-related dimensions), dramatic-erratic traits (grouping affective instability, narcissism, and conceptually related dimensions), and obsessive-compulsive traits (grouping compulsivity and restricted expression). Correlations among subjects' factor scores (derived from the PCA) showed two types of transgenerational effects: correspondences between daughters' and parents' psychopathological traits, and between daughters' and mothers' eating concerns. Despite these, relatives of ED probands were not discriminable on any factor score from relatives of controls. These results imply that transgenerational effects exist on eating attitudes and psychopathological traits, but do not uniquely identify families in which clinical ED syndromes occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the extent to which first-degree relatives of eating-disordered (ED) probands endorse maladaptive eating attitudes and personality affective traits, we compared self-reported eating concerns (Restraint, Emotional Eating, Body Dissatisfaction, and maladaptive eating attitudes) and psychopathological traits (Affective Instability, Anxiousness, Compulsitivity, and Narcissism) across groups of restricter (n = 29), and nondieter control (NC,n =28) probands, and then across participating nuclear family members. Results among probands were as anticipated: ED probands showed expected elevations in both areas, and predicted restricter/binger differences were obtained. However, corresponding differences were not obtained on measures of mothers's, fathers', or siblings' eating concerns and traits. Our findings corroborate the notion that Eds represent a convergence of eating, affective, and personality disturbances, but not that such a clustering of features exist as a familiar trait. We discuss normal trait and attitudinal variations observed in ED probands' relatives in light of findings showing Eds and other psychiatric syndromes to aggregate within families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presence of DSM-III-R personality disorders was examined in 67 women with eating disorders (anorexic restricters, anorexic bingers, and bulimics with or without a prior history of anorexia nervosa) and in 25 noneating-disordered women. Additional measures of family functioning were available in 55 of the eating disorders (EDs) and 24 controls. Personality and family disturbances (as measured by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised and the Family Assessment Device) were prevalent among the EDs, but ‘restricter/binger’ differences were not indicated on either measure. Hence results did not support a ‘restricter/binger dichotomy’ concept. They also questioned the degree to which personality problems in ED patients may be consequences of eating disturbances, since severity of personality disorder, while related to reported family dysfunction, was unrelated to severity of eating symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested a dual-process family model in understanding the relationships among dysfunctional family relationships, family preoccupation with weight and appearance, and body- and self-esteem problems in the development of eating and psychiatric symptoms. Structural equation analyses suggested that family environment contributed to the development of eating and psychiatric symptoms through two interrelated pathways. On one hand, family preoccupation with weight and appearance had direct effects on body dissatisfaction and eating symptoms. Body dissatisfaction had direct effects on self-esteem deficit and eating symptoms, and indirect effects mediated by self-esteem deficit on eating and psychiatric symptoms. On the other hand, general family dysfunction had direct effect on negative self-esteem, and indirect effects through negative self-esteem on eating and psychiatric symptoms. Findings are discussed in relation to the possible mechanisms by which dysfunctional family relationships and family preoccupation with weight may predispose girls to eating pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]