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Adolescent sexual development is not the same across the board, and can be seen as both normative as well as risky behavior, depending on factors such as age of onset and number of partners. This longitudinal study identified developmental trajectories of annual number of sexual partners from adolescence to emerging adulthood and their antecedents. From the ages of 16-22, 332 participants (60.8 % females) annually reported their number of sexual partners. Measures of adolescent and family characteristics taken at ages 13-15 were used as predictors. Group-based modeling identified four trajectory groups: the abstainers group (9.1 %), low-increasing group (30.6 %), medium-increasing group (53.0 %), and multiple-partners group (7.3 %). Multinomial logistical regressions indicated that better social competence increased chances of belonging to the multiple-partners group as compared to the abstainers and low-increasing groups, and more substance use predicted membership in the multiple-partners group as compared to the abstainers group. Moreover, females were overrepresented in the low-increasing and medium-increasing groups. These results imply a greater diversity in sexual development than proposed in the literature and highlight the importance of identifying the strengths and competencies associated with healthy sexual development along with the early risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study explored state-related tendencies in DNA methylation in people with anorexia nervosa. Methods: We measured genome-wide DNA methylation in 75 women with active anorexia nervosa (active), 31 women showing stable remission of anorexia nervosa (remitted) and 41 women with no eating disorder (NED). We also obtained postintervention methylation data from 52 of the women from the active group. Results: Comparisons between members of the active and NED groups showed 58 differentially methylated sites (Q < 0.01) that corresponded to genes relevant to metabolic and nutritional status (lipid and glucose metabolism), psychiatric status (serotonin receptor activity) and immune function. Methylation levels in members of the remitted group differed from those in the active group on 265 probes that also involved sites associated with genes for serotonin and insulin activity, glucose metabolism and immunity. Intriguingly, the direction of methylation effects in remitted participants tended to be opposite to those seen in active participants. The chronicity of Illness correlated (usually inversely, at Q < 0.01) with methylation levels at 64 sites that mapped onto genes regulating glutamate and serotonin activity, insulin function and epigenetic age. In contrast, body mass index increases coincided (at Q < 0.05) with generally increased methylation-level changes at 73 probes associated with lipid and glucose metabolism, immune and inflammatory processes, and olfaction. Limitations: Sample sizes were modest for this type of inquiry, and findings may have been subject to uncontrolled effects of medication and substance use. Conclusion: Findings point to the possibility of reversible epigenetic alterations in anorexia nervosa, and suggest that an adequate pathophysiological model would likely need to include psychiatric, metabolic and immune components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the implementation and impact of a province-wide program of knowledge exchange (KE), aimed at developing capacity for the treatment of people with eating disorders (EDs). The program is designed to equip clinicians working in nonspecialized health-care installations with skills to evaluate and treat people with EDs. Trainings were conducted at 21 institutions. The majority of clinicians reported satisfaction with the KE program and indicated that the trainings enhanced their confidence and ability to treat patients with EDs. A subset of clinicians received case supervision with a specialist ED therapist and followed patients with EDs (n = 119). Treated patients showed significant improvements on eating and depressive symptoms, and reported satisfaction with the treatments they received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Self‐Determination Theory, when motivation to reach an objective is fully internal, it is said to be "autonomous"; when driven by external incentives, it is said to be "controlled". Previous research has indicated that autonomously motivated individuals show better response to treatments for eating disorders. Objective: In individuals undergoing different intensities of outpatient treatment for an eating disorder, we sought to assess associations between autonomous and controlled motivations and response to treatment on the one hand, and likelihood of dropping out of treatment, on the other. Method: Seven hundred seventy adults meeting DSM‐5 criteria for an eating disorder (216 with Anorexia Nervosa, 282 with Bulimia Nervosa, and 272 with Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder) were included in this study. Before an interval of outpatient treatment, individuals completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and the Autonomous and Controlled Motivations for Treatment Questionnaire. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire again at one or two subsequent timepoints. Results: After controlling for diagnosis, treatment intensity, and number of previous treatments, analyses showed that higher autonomous motivation was associated with better response on eating‐disorder overall symptoms and lower likelihood of dropping out of treatment. In contrast, controlled motivation was not associated with response to treatment. Discussion Our results suggest that autonomous motivation has trans‐diagnostic influence upon response to various intensities of treatment for an eating disorder. In support of an autonomy supportive approach to treatment, findings link autonomous motivation with more favorable outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in EAT-26 values under “Patients Receiving Treatment for an ED in their Sector” section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]