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Background The comorbidity of purging behaviours, such as vomiting, inappropriate use of laxatives, diuretics or slimming medications, has been examined in literature. However, most studies do not include adolescents, individuals who purge in the absence of binge eating, or those purging at subclinical frequency. This study examines the prevalence of purging among 16-year-old girls across three countries and their association with substance use and psychological comorbidity. Methods Data were obtained by questionnaire in 3 population-based cohorts (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ( ALSPAC), United Kingdom, n = 1,608; Growing Up Today Study ( GUTS), USA, n = 3,504; North Finland Birth Cohort ( NFBC85/86), Finland, n = 2,306). Multivariate logistic regressions were employed to estimate associations between purging and outcomes. Four models were fit adjusting for binge eating and potential confounders of these associations. Results In ALSPAC, 9.7% of girls reported purging in the 12-months prior to assessment, 7.3% in GUTS, and 3.5% in NFBC. In all 3 cohorts, purging was associated with adverse outcomes such as binge drinking ( ALSPAC: odds ratio ( OR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval ( CI) = 1.4-2.9; GUTS: OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.5-4.0; NFBC: OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.0-2.8), drug use ( ALSPAC: OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.8-4.7; GUTS: OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 2.8-7.3; NFBC: OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 2.6-6.6), depressive symptoms in ALSPAC ( OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.5-3.1) and GUTS( OR = 3.7, 95% CI = 2.2-6.3), and several psychopathology measures including clinical anxiety/depression in NFBC ( OR = 11.2, 95% CI = 3.9, 31.7). Conclusions Results show a higher prevalence of purging behaviours among girls in the United Kingdom compared to those in the United States and Finland. Our findings support evidence highlighting that purging in adolescence is associated with negative outcomes, independent of its frequency and binge eating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), this 12-site international collaboration seeks to identify genetic variants that affect risk for anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: Four hundred families will be ascertained with two or more individuals affected with AN. The assessment battery produces a rich set of phenotypes comprising eating disorder diagnoses and psychological and personality features known to be associated with vulnerability to eating disorders. Results: We report attributes of the first 200 families, comprising 200 probands and 232 affected relatives. Conclusion: These results provide context for the genotyping of the first 200 families by the Center for Inherited Disease Research. We will analyze our first 200 families for linkage, complete recruitment of roughly 400 families, and then perform final linkage analyses on the complete cohort. DNA, genotypes, and phenotypes will form a national eating disorder repository maintained by NIMH and available to qualified investigators. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which established the psychometric properties of standard questionnaires to measure eating pathology and the existence of eating disorders in Georgia. Questions posed to focus groups; Tests and questionnaires used; Psychometric properties of the eating disorder measures; Interview assessment of eating disorders.

Objective: Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (BN) are rare, but eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) are relatively common among female participants. Our objective was to evaluate whether BN and subtypes of EDNOS are predictive of developing adverse outcomes., Methods: This study comprised a prospective analysis of 8594 female participants from the ongoing Growing Up Today Study. Questionnaires were sent annually from 1996 through 2001, then biennially through 2007 and 2008. Participants who were 9 to 15 years of age in 1996 and completed at least 2 consecutive questionnaires between 1996 and 2008 were included in the analyses. Participants were classified as having BN (≥ weekly binge eating and purging), binge eating disorder (BED; ≥ weekly binge eating, infrequent purging), purging disorder (PD; ≥ weekly purging, infrequent binge eating), other EDNOS (binge eating and/or purging monthly), or nondisordered., Results: BN affected ∼1% of adolescent girls; 2% to 3% had PD and another 2% to 3% had BED. Girls with BED were almost twice as likely as their nondisordered peers to become overweight or obese (odds ratio [OR]: 1.9 [95% confidence interval: 1.0-3.5]) or develop high depressive symptoms (OR: 2.3 [95% confidence interval: 1.0-5.0]). Female participants with PD had a significantly increased risk of starting to use drugs (OR: 1.7) and starting to binge drink frequently (OR: 1.8)., Conclusions: PD and BED are common and predict a range of adverse outcomes. Primary care clinicians should be made aware of these disorders, which may be underrepresented in eating disorder clinic samples. Efforts to prevent eating disorders should focus on cases of subthreshold severity.

We investigated the relation between diet pill use and eating disorder subtype, purging and other compensatory behaviors, body mass index (BMI), tobacco and caffeine use, alcohol abuse or dependence, personality characteristics, and Axis I and Axis II disorders in 1,345 participants from the multisite Price Foundation Genetics Studies. Diet pill use was significantly less common in women with restricting type of AN than in women with other eating disorder subtypes. In addition, diet pill use was associated with the use of multiple weight control behaviors, higher BMI, higher novelty seeking, and the presence of anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse or dependence, and borderline personality disorder. Findings suggest that certain clinical and personality variables distinguish individuals with eating disorders who use diet pills from those who do not. In the eating disorder population, vigilant screening for diet pill use should be routine clinical practice.