Michael Levine's Eating Disorders Prevention/Sociocultural Factors Newsletter
Number 1: Research - (i) Prevention Programming (n = 2); (ii) Positive Body Image; (iii) Risk Factors (n = 3); (iv Social Media (pt. 1 of 2, n =2); (v) Disordered Eating (n = 3); and (vi) Caregivers
WELCOME BACK
Colleagues (N now = 1105 in 48 countries),
Following my trial balloon (zeppelin made of lead?) from Mailchimp, several of you responded with a suggestion that I consider Substack, a free platform designed (for the most part; see below) for writers, including writers of newsletters. Perched precariously on precipe of being defeated by Mailchimp’s marketing focus/sophistication and the distinct possibility that Mailchimp is not the correct platform for my characteristically strange needs, I decided to check out Substack.
I think it is going to work for me, so if you know anyone who would like to join this free email list, please pass along the following to them.
As you are receiving this (hopefully), I have obviously decided to give Substack a try. It is not hard to use (e.g., to paste content in from a Word document), although so far its word-processing capability seems far less than TinyLetter’s . . . although past experience suggests that I may well not have yet grasped some basic features of Substack that in a few days or weeks may make this introduction look silly. So, again, please bear with me as I wrestle with this platform and as I almost certainly make a few major changes in the content and style of the Levine Eating Disorders Prevention/Sociocultural Factors/Advocacy newsletter.
EVENTS
F.E.A.S.T. presents a FREE Webinar – Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. UTC – Does Medication Work in the Treatment of Eating Disorders?, with Molly M. Perlman, MD, MPH, CEDS, FAPA, who is Chief Medical Officer at Monte Nido & Affiliates, overseeing psychiatric and medical care at over 50 programs across the U.S. Register at: https://www.feast-ed.org/civicrm/event/register/?id=43&reset=1
JOB OPENING
ML NOTE: Received 1 March 2024 via an email from Alexandra Perkinson, LMHC, Chief Operating Officer (phone: (808) 707-1018; email: alexp@aipono.com. Distinguished author-educator-Bolder Model Mr. Joe Kelly (USA) is a member of this TinyLetter Group.
[Ms. Perkinson writes:] We received your contact information from Joe Kelly and understand that you distribute a weekly email to ED professionals which sometimes may list job opportunities. We are currently in search of a Clinical Director for our IOP/PHP program in San Luis Obispo, CA.
Like most treatment centers around the country, we are finding it more and more difficult to hire folks who wish to work in "traditional" treatment center settings. That said, the position can be considered on a part-time basis with flexible hours and hybrid potential for the right candidate.
Below is a job description.
https://www.centralcoasttreatmentcenter.com/employment-1
Nova Luna, Inc. (representing both 'Ai Pono Maui and Central Coast Treatment Centers) is currently seeking an on-site Clinical Director for Central Coast Treatment Center in San Luis Obispo, CA to lead our close-knit team and ensure alignment with our core philosophies and high standards of clinical practice.
Requirements:
PhD/PsyD, LMFT, LCSW or LPCC licensed in the state of California.
Minimum of one year of clinical experience in treating eating disorders.
Experience with children or adolescents is highly preferred.
Experience providing direct psychotherapy services.
Ability to provide clinical supervision.
Basic technology skills (proficiency with digital charting).
Essential Job Functions
Oversees all clinical aspects of the program to ensure quality and initiates any quality improvement projects.
Provision of clinical supervision to pre-licensed staff.
Collaboration with the Director of Operations to ensure that the facility is acting in accordance with JCAHO standards.
Attends weekly Leadership meetings with Director or Operations and COO/CEO.
May need to oversee and/or conduct insurance reviews to ensure reimbursement for services provided.
May need to maintain a small caseload of up to three patients dependent on on-site hours.
Any other job-related responsibilities as assigned by the supervisor
PODCASTS
Renfrew Podcast: All Bodies. All Foods.
Episode 37 • “Did I Say the Right Thing?”: Building a Body-Positive Home with our own Zoë Bisbing, LCSW (USA). Psychotherapist, speaker, and content creator, Zoë Bisbing, LCSW, joins Ashley and Sam in this episode to discuss ways for professionals and parents to reduce risks for disordered eating and body image issues.
The Eating Disorder Trap Podcast, Episode #155: Our own Ms. Robyn Goldberg (USA) talks with Dr. Celisa Flores about “Trauma and Neurodivergence”. (Listen to 155)
Research Publication Categories in this newsletter
(i) Prevention Programming (n = 2), (ii) Positive Body Image, (iii) Risk Factors (n = 3), (iv Social Media (pt. 1 of 2, n =2), (v) Disordered Eating (n = 3), and (vi) Caregivers
CONGRATULATIONS to our own
Dr. Tiffany Brown (USA) and colleagues for publication of the Prevention Research article in #1.
Dr. Viren Swami (England/Malaysia) and colleagues for publication of the Positive Body Image research article in #3.
Dr. Janet Treasure (England) and colleagues for publication of the Risk Factor Research article in #4 and the Caregiver Research article in #12
Dr. Megan Vendemia (USA) and colleague for publication of the Social Media Research article in #7.
Prevention Programming and Research
1. Alvarez, J. C., Denning, D. M., Castro Lebron, J., Ho, V., & Brown, T. A. (2024). Differential effects of community involvement on eating disorder prevention outcomes in sexual minority men. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2024.2319946
Full text available for download at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10640266.2024.2319946
ABSTRACT. Prior research has been conflicted on whether gay community involvement serves as a risk or protective factor for body image and eating disorders (EDs) in sexual minority men (SMM), perhaps given that prior research has examined community involvement unidimensionally. The present study examined whether non-appearance-based (“social activism”) and appearance-based (“going out/nightlife”) community involvement differentially predicted ED prevention outcomes in SMM. SMM (N = 73) enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of an ED prevention program completed measures of community involvement, drive for muscularity, body dissatisfaction, and bulimic symptoms at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up.
“Social activism” community involvement moderated intervention effects for drive for muscularity and body dissatisfaction scores, but not bulimic symptoms, such that those who placed higher importance on social activism demonstrated expected improvements, while those who placed lower importance on social activism did not exhibit expected improvements. “Going out/nightlife” community involvement did not moderate intervention outcomes; however, greater importance of going out/nightlife was associated with increased body dissatisfaction. Findings support that the impact of community involvement on body image and ED risk for SMM may be nuanced. Encouraging community involvement through activism could help enhance ED prevention efforts for SMM.
2. Akers, L., Rohde, P., Shaw, H., & Stice, E. (2024). Cost-effectiveness of intervention implementation support for reducing eating disorder symptoms among college students. Prevention Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01653-2
Full text available for download at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-024-01653-2#citeas
Abstract. Implementation support for prevention interventions is receiving increased attention, as many organizations receive training in evidence-based practices but do not deliver the interventions optimally. The Body Project, a four-session program, significantly reduces eating disorder symptoms and future disorder onset among group participants when delivered by peer educators at colleges/universities. Costs and cost-effectiveness of the program were examined using data from a randomized trial that compared three levels of implementation support at 63 colleges: (1) a train-the-trainer (TTT) workshop alone, (2) TTT plus a technical assistance (TA) workshop, or (3) TTT plus TA plus monthly quality assurance (QA) consultations. Effectiveness was measured by the production of reliable change in eating disorder symptoms from pretest to posttest.
Costs and cost-effectiveness of two levels of implementation support are reported, comparing TTT-only with TTT + TA + QA (effectiveness of the TTT + TA condition did not differ from TTT-only) and using results from an earlier study as a proxy for a no-treatment control. Two perspectives are considered: a sponsoring organization providing the training at multiple sites and a college delivering the intervention to its eligible students. From the perspective of a sponsoring organization, adding both the TA training and QA support improves the cost-effectiveness per eligible student receiving the intervention.
From the perspective of costs for a college to deliver the intervention, receiving TA training and QA support is also more cost-effective than the training workshop alone, whether the peer educators are paid or unpaid and whether costs of group supervision are included or excluded. Results converge with previous research showing that more intensive implementation support can be more cost-effective.
Positive Body Image
3. Swami, V., Voracek, M., Todd, J., Furnham, A., Horne, G., & Tran, U. S. (2024). Positive self-beliefs mediate the association between body appreciation and positive mental health. Body Image, 48. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101685
Full text available for download at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S174014452400007X
Abstract. Previous work has supported direct, positive associations between body appreciation and positive mental health, but has largely neglected to examine possible indirect mechanistic pathways. Here, we propose one relevant mediational pathway, wherein body appreciation is associated with positive mental health via positive self-beliefs (i.e., cognitions that lead individuals to view themselves, their lives, and/or their futures under a positive outlook). To test this hypothesis, we asked an online sample of 496 adults (249 women, 247 men) from the United Kingdom to complete measures of body appreciation, positive self-beliefs, and positive mental health. Participants also completed measures of self-efficacy and resilience, and provided their demographic information.
Correlational analysis revealed significant, positive, and strong associations between body appreciation and facets of positive self-beliefs and positive mental health, respectively. Structural equation modelling showed that positive self-beliefs mediated the association between body appreciation and positive mental health after controlling for self-efficacy and resilience. This model was robust across women and men separately, and the mediational effects remained intact in sensitivity and robustness analyses. We discuss ways in which greater body appreciation may help individuals develop and maintain positive self-beliefs, which in turn shape mental health outcomes.
Risk Factors
4. Derks, I. P. M., Nas, Z., Harris, H. A., Kininmonth, A. R., Treasure, J., Jansen, P. W., & Llewellyn, C. (2024). Early childhood appetitive traits and eating disorder symptoms in adolescence: A 10-year longitudinal follow-up study in the Netherlands and the UK. The Lancet: Child & Adolescent Health. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(23)00342-5
Full text available for download at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(23)00342-5/fulltext
SUMMARY. Background: Obesity and eating disorders commonly co-occur and might share common risk factors. Appetite avidity is an established neurobehavioural risk factor for obesity from early life, but the role of appetite in eating disorder susceptibility is unclear. We aimed to examine longitudinal associations between appetitive traits in early childhood and eating disorder symptoms in adolescence.
Methods: In this longitudinal cohort study, we used data from Generation R (based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and Gemini (based in England and Wales). Appetitive traits at age 4–5 years were measured using the parent-reported Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. At age 12–14 years, adolescents self-reported on overeating eating disorder symptoms (binge eating symptoms, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating) and restrictive eating disorder symptoms (compensatory behaviours and restrained eating). Missing data on covariates were imputed using Multivariate Imputation via Chained Equations. Ordinal and binary logistic regressions were performed in each cohort separately and adjusted for confounders. Pooled results were obtained by meta-analyses. Sensitivity analyses were performed on complete cases using inverse probability weighting.
Findings: The final study sample included 2801 participants from Generation R and 869 participants from Gemini. Pooled findings after meta-analyses showed that higher food responsiveness in early childhood increased the odds of binge eating symptoms (odds ratio [OR]pooled 1·47, 95% CI 1·26–1·72), uncontrolled eating (1·33, 1·21–1·46), emotional eating (1·26, 1·13–1·41), restrained eating (1·16, 1·06–1·27), and compensatory behaviours (1·18, 1·08–1·30) in adolescence. Greater emotional overeating in early childhood increased the odds of compensatory behaviours (1·18, 1·06–1·33). By contrast, greater satiety responsiveness in early childhood decreased the odds of compensatory behaviours in adolescence (0·89, 0·81–0·99) and uncontrolled eating (0·86, 0·78–0·95) in adolescence. Slower eating in early childhood decreased the odds of compensatory behaviours (0·91, 0·84–0·99) and restrained eating (0·90, 0·83–0·98) in adolescence. No other associations were observed.
Interpretation: In this study, higher food responsiveness in early childhood was associated with a higher likelihood of self-reported eating disorder symptoms in adolescence, whereas greater satiety sensitivity and slower eating were associated with a lower likelihood of some eating disorder symptoms. Appetitive traits in children might be early neurobehavioural risk factors for, or markers of, subsequent eating disorder symptoms.
5. The Netherlands, England, and Northern Ireland
Harris, H. A., Kininmonth, A. R., Nas, Z., Derks, I. P. M., Quigley, F., Jansen, P. W., & Llewellyn, C. (2024). Prospective associations between early childhood parental feeding practices and eating disorder symptoms and disordered eating behaviors in adolescence. International Journal of Eating Disorders. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/eat.24159
Full text available for download at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eat.24159
ABSTRACT. Objective: Nonresponsive parental feeding practices are associated with poorer appetite self-regulation in children. It is unknown whether this relationship extends beyond childhood to be prospectively associated with the onset of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in adolescence. This exploratory study therefore investigated prospective associations between early childhood parental feeding practices and adolescent ED symptoms and disordered eating behaviors.
Methods: Data were from two population-based cohorts with harmonized measures: Generation R (Netherlands; n = 4900) and Gemini (UK; n = 2094). Parents self-reported their pressure to eat, restriction and instrumental feeding (i.e., using food as a reward) at child age 4–5 years. Adolescents self-reported their compensatory behaviors (e.g., fasting, purging), binge-eating symptoms, restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating at 12–14 years. Associations between feeding practices and ED symptoms were examined separately in each cohort using generalized linear models
Results: In Gemini, pressure to eat in early childhood was associated with adolescents engaging in compensatory behaviors. In Generation R, parental restriction was associated with adolescents engaging in compensatory behaviors, restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. Instrumental feeding was associated with uncontrolled eating and emotional eating in Generation R.
Discussion: Nonresponsive parental feeding practices were associated with a greater frequency of specific ED symptoms and disordered eating in adolescence, although effect sizes were small and findings were inconsistent between cohorts. Potentially, the cultural and developmental context in which child–parent feeding interactions occur is important for ED symptoms. Further replication studies are required to better understand parents' role in the development and maintenance of ED-related symptoms.
Public Significance: Prospective research examining how early childhood parental feeding practices might contribute to adolescent ED symptoms is limited. In two population-based cohorts, nonresponsive feeding practices (restriction, instrumental feeding, pressure to eat) predicted increased frequency of some ED symptoms and disordered eating behaviors in adolescence, although associations were small and further replication is required. Findings support the promotion of responsive feeding practices, which may benefit young children's developing relationship with food.
6. Murayama, Y., Ito, H., Hamada, M., Takayanagi, N., Nakajima, T., Myogan, M., & Tsujii, M. (2024). Longitudinal associations between response-style strategies and abnormal eating behaviors/attitudes in adolescents: A cross-lagged panel model. Journal of Eating Disorders, 12:33 (2024). doi: 10.1186/s40337-024-00991-4
Full text available for download at: https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-024-00991-4
ABSTRACT. Background: Previous studies have suggested that response-style strategies (rumination, problem-solving, and distraction) can be risk or protective factors for the development of abnormal eating behaviors/attitudes (AEB) during adolescence. However, due to limited empirical data regarding the prospective effects of these strategies on AEB, further research is needed to clarify their role in developing AEB in adolescence. Methods: This study investigated the one-year lagged effects of response-style strategies on AEB in 24,883 fourth- to eighth-grade students in Japan between 2015 and 2019 using a cross-lagged panel model. Depressive symptoms and body mass index (BMI), which are reported to relate to AEB, were also included in the analytic model. The students self-reported their levels of response-style strategies, AEB, and depressive symptoms. We also evaluated BMI based on teachers’ reports.
Results: We found that greater rumination significantly predicted more severe AEB in the following year among students from all grades, with small to moderate effect sizes. In addition, distraction significantly predicted more severe binge eating/purging behaviors, but with very weak small effect sizes. Problem-solving did not predict any level of AEB. Furthermore, we observed significant reciprocal relationships between response-style strategies, AEB, and depressive symptoms. Positive reciprocal associations between BMI and AEB were also found except for some intervals. Conclusion: We concluded that a decrease in rumination is critical to alleviating mental health problems, such as AEB and depressive symptoms, during adolescence. This suggests that interventions to reduce the level of rumination should be conducted in the early stages of adolescence.
Plain English summary: This study examines the effects of three response styles when faced with distress—rumination, problem-solving, and distraction—on unhealthy eating behaviors. In this study, we looked at how these coping strategies are linked to unhealthy eating behaviors in 24,883 students in grades four to eight in Japan between 2015 and 2019. We checked again at year-long intervals to see if the coping strategies had any effect on the students’ unhealthy eating behaviors. In addition, we considered depressive symptoms and body mass index in our analysis because these variables might also be related to unhealthy eating behaviors. We found that more rumination (i.e., a repetitive negative thinking pattern) predicted the severity of unhealthy eating behaviors and depressive symptoms in the following year across all the grades. In addition, greater depressive symptoms also contributed to an increase in unhealthy eating behaviors in the following year. Therefore, we suggest that rumination is a key factor that influences mental health during adolescence.
Social Media (Part 1)
7. Vendemia, M. A., & Fox, J. (2024). How social media images of sexualized young women elicit appearance commentary from their peers and reinforce objectification. Body Image, 49. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101683
Email address for correspondence: megan.vendemia@mail.wvu.edu
ABSTRACT. Social media platforms like Instagram enable users to share, view, and provide feedback on images, including photographs of oneself (e.g., selfies). In a 3 × 2 between-subjects online experiment, we investigated how women evaluate and react to photographs of their peers on social media and the role that feedback might play in both objectification of others and oneself. U.S. adult young women (N = 256; Mage = 20.06, SDage = 1.57) viewed social media images of sexualized peers, non-sexualized peers, or landscapes (control). Then, they provided feedback on the images via social media hashtags (#) or not (tagging vs. no tagging).
Results revealed that participants who viewed sexualized peers demonstrated the highest levels of state self-objectification and were more likely to dehumanize the women in the photos. Hashtags generated by participants indicated that those who viewed sexualized peers engaged in greater appearance-related objectification, specifically related to body parts, and sexual objectification than those who viewed non-sexualized peers. In addition, generating hashtags that specifically focused on body parts heightened viewers’ state self-objectification. These findings illustrate the complexities of social media content production and consumption, particularly for young women.
8. Dahlgren, C. L., Sundgot-Borgen, C., Kvalem, I. L., Wennersberg, A.-L., & Wisting, L. (2024). Further evidence of the association between social media use, eating disorder pathology and appearance ideals and pressure: A cross-sectional study in Norwegian adolescents. Journal of Eating Disorders, 12:34. doi: 10.1186/s40337-024-00992-3
Full text available for download at: https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-024-00992-3#citeas
ABSTRACT. Background: Few studies have investigated how the plethora of contemporary social media (SM) platforms relate to, and influence eating disorder (ED) pathology, appearance ideals and pressure to conform to these ideals in youth. Methods: In this study, 1558 girls (53%) and boys (47%), predominantly within the 16–19 age range, completed an online questionnaire assessing SM use and perceived influence on appearance, ED pathology, internalization of appearance ideals and perceived appearance pressure.
Result: Results showed that ED pathology was common, particularly in girls, and that internalization of body ideals was gender specific, a thin ideal being more prevalent in girls, and a muscular ideal being more common in boys. Results also showed a strong association between ED pathology and perceived pressure to conform to these appearance ideals. One fourth of the participants reported spending four hours or more on SM daily, and 80% of girls reported that SM, particularly Instagram and TikTok, had a negative influence on how they felt about their appearance. These girls had significantly higher levels of ED pathology and reported higher levels of appearance pressure from the media.
Conclusion: A clear pattern of associations between photo- and video specific SM platforms, ED pathology, internalization of body ideals and perceived pressure was found in this study. Adolescent girls appeared to be particularly at risk. The results illustrate an imperative need to keep addressing the potential risks of SM use in adolescents, and to continue monitoring the effect of SM on young people’s view of themselves, their appearance, and their eating habits. Future studies should attempt to identify aspects of SM use that may be particularly detrimental for girls and boys in their formative years, but also those that may enhance adolescents’ satisfaction and appreciation of their body and appearance. Trial registration: The study is registered in the Open Science Framework (Identifier: 10.17605/OSF.IO/5RB6P https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5RB6P).
Plain English summary: Social Media (SM) has become an increasingly influential part of people’s everyday life, and has transformed the patterns of communication, especially in teenagers. In this study, we investigated the relationship between eleven commonly used SM platforms in adolescents, eating disorder (ED) pathology, appearance ideals, and pressure to conform to these ideals. A little over 1500 adolescent girls and boys, predominantly within the 16-19 age range, participated in the study.
Most girls who participated reported that SM use, particularly Instagram and TikTok, had a negative influence on how they felt about their appearance. These girls had significantly higher levels of ED pathology and reported higher levels of appearance pressure from the media. Future studies should attempt to identify aspects of SM use that are particularly harmful for girls and boys in their formative years, but also those who have the potential of strengthening the sense of self-worth and contribute to positive identity formation.
Disordered Eating
9. Cerolini, S., Vacca, M., Zegretti, A., Zagaria, A., & Lombardo, C. (2024). Body shaming and internalized weight bias as potential precursors of eating disorders in adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1356647. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356647
Full text available for download at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356647/full
Abstract. Introduction: Body shaming (BS) is a growing phenomenon within the school context, especially among adolescents. Recently, it has been described as an unrepeated act in which a person expresses unsolicited, mostly negative comments about an individual’s body. The targeted person perceives these comments as negative, offensive or body shame-inducing. Empirical evidence also suggests that body weight is the most common reason that youths are teased and bullied. Indeed, weight stigma, described as bias or discriminatory behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and thinking about individuals,because of their weight, can lead to weight-based discrimination and victimization. Preliminary evidence suggests that BS and weight stigma have negative effects on psychological health both in the short and long term. In the delicate stage of adolescence development and pubertal maturation, BS experiences can be highly prevalent and it can lead to adverse outcomes such as eating disorders (ED). However, prevalence data in the Italian context are still lacking.
Methods: The study aims to estimate weight-related BS perceived by different sources (i.e., peers and family members) and their associations with public and internalized weight bias, body mass index (BMI), body dissatisfaction, and ED symptoms. A sample of 919 high school students (Mage = 15.97,SD = 1.58; 57.1% boys) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing these variables. Results: One in four students reported experiences of weight-related BS by peers or family members. A total of 37% reported having at least one BS experience in a lifetime. Higher scores of ED symptoms, body dissatisfaction, and weight bias were reported by adolescents who experienced BS, especially females. Among overweight participants, results showed that internalized weight bias partially mediated the relationship between BS by family members and ED symptoms and fully mediated the relationship between BS by peers and ED symptoms, after controlling for age, sex and BMI.
Discussion: These findings, despite their cross-sectional nature, add an important contribution to the creation of quantitative empirical evidence on the phenomenon of BS. Its role in explaining eating disorders, both alone and with the mediation of internalized weight stigma has been first proved and needs to be confirmed by longitudinal results.
3-6-24
USA
10. Kalantzis, M. A., Braden, A. L., & Haidar, A. (2024). Disordered eating and emotional eating in Arab, middle eastern, and north African American women. Eating Behaviors. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101868
Email address for correspondence: makalan@bgsu.edu
ABSTRACT. Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African (A-MENA) American women are often subject to intersectional discrimination, and they have also not been traditionally recognized as a distinct racial group in disordered eating literature. No study to date has provided descriptive information on disordered and emotional eating A-MENA American women, nor has examined perceptions of widely used measurements of eating pathology in this population. The current study generated descriptive information among A-MENA women on two widely used measures of eating pathology, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Emotional Eating Scale (EES). Participants (N = 244) were A-MENA adult women were recruited via social media and snowball sampling.
Qualitative findings provide potential sociocultural predictors of disordered eating that should be further explored, such as bicultural identity and family pressures/comments toward appearance. Secondly, themes from the EES-R indicate adding emotion of shame and considering identity-related stress. The current study provides prevalence data and future directions of research on widely used eating pathology and appearance attitude measurements for A-MENA American women.
3-3-24
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
11. Chong, K. K., & Martinelli, C. (2024). Weak central coherence, cognitive rigidity and disordered eating in a community sample. Eating Behaviors. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101866
Full text available for download at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471015324000254
ABSTRACT. Recent evidence has highlighted that a moderate degree of disordered eating has become the norm among the general population. While previous research has demonstrated that individuals with eating disorders exhibit heightened weak central coherence (i.e., attention to detail) and cognitive rigidity, and this plays a key role in the development and maintenance of the disorders, less is known about the relationship between disordered eating and these cognitive styles in subclinical community samples. A community sample of females completed self-report measures of weak central coherence, cognitive rigidity and eating disorder pathology. Unlike previous studies in the area, we first excluded participants with a diagnosis of eating disorder and then confined the analyses to those without clinically significant disordered eating.
In line with the clinical literature, we found both cognitive rigidity and weak central coherence to correlate with severity and frequency of disordered eating behaviours and cognitions, suggesting the relationship also exists in subclinical samples. If replicated and expanded upon, these findings may bear important implications for the prevention and early identification of disordered eating in the community.
Caregiver Research
12. Philipp, J., Franta, C., Zeiler, M., Truttmann, S., Wittek, T., Schöfbeck, G., Mairhofer, D., Mitterer, M., Lackzkovics, C., Treasure, J., Karwautz, A. F. K., & Wagner, G. (2024). Acceptability and feasibility of SUCCEAT, an intervention for parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/erv.3080
Full text available for download: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.3080
ABSTRACT. Objective: “Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria” (SUCCEAT), a skills training for parents, delivered via workshops (WS) or online modules (ONL), has been proven to be effective in terms of parental distress, caregiver skills, and adolescents' outcome. This study examined the adherence to and the acceptability and feasibility of SUCCEAT. Method: One-hundred parents (86% mothers) of adolescents with anorexia nervosa participated in the 8-week training. Parents were assigned to the WS (n = 50) or ONL (n = 50) format using a quasi-randomised design. Adherence, acceptability, and feasibility were assessed using self-report questionnaires.
Results: Adherence to the sessions was high (66%–98%) for both groups. The usage of the material was comparable between the groups. However, in the WS group, participants actively approached the coaches (71.8% vs. 48.9% often/very often) or other parents (63% vs. 4.4% often/very often) more often. Perceived helpfulness was high in both groups, overall satisfaction and practicability were higher in the WS group. Conclusions: Good adherence, acceptability, and feasibility were confirmed for both formats of SUCCEAT, with minimal advantages of the WS regarding satisfaction and contact with other parents and coaches. Thus, both formats can be recommended for implementation in clinical routine.