Personality traits, such as neuroticism, perfectionism, and a narrow self-concept have been identified as risk factors for eating disorders or have been found at higher rates in those with eating disorders (e.g., Brannan & Petrie, 2008; Cash & Deagle, 1997; Cervera et al., 2003). Musicians exhibit many of these personality traits associated with eating disorders (e.g., Kemp, 1981), however eating disorder prevalence has not been studied in musicians. The present study examined the prevalence of eating disorders and pathogenic weight control behaviors among college music majors. This study also compared personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, perfectionism, musician identity) between music majors and nonmajors and examined which personality traits best predicted bulimic symptomatology. Participants were 93 female and 126 male undergraduate students majoring in music and a nonmusician comparison group of 310 women 140 men from the same university. Music majors and nonmajors did not differ from each other with regards to eating disorder prevalence rates. Exercising and fasting/strict dieting were the primary means of weight control amongst all participants. With regards to personality traits, female and male music majors reported higher levels of perfectionism than their nonmajor counterparts and male music majors reported higher levels of neuroticism than male nonmajors. After controlling for BMI, neuroticism and doubts about actions predicted bulimic symptoms in female music majors, whereas concern over mistakes predicted bulimic symptomatology among men majoring in music. Findings suggest that any additional appearance-based pressures from the music environment do not translate into increased levels of eating pathology. Music majors higher levels of perfectionism and neuroticism may help them to succeed within the music and perform at a high level. Lastly, personality dimensions of neuroticism and concern over making mistakes predict disordered eating in all students.

Evidence suggests that the transition to postsecondary may be an important period of risk for engagement in disordered eating (DE). DE has been demonstrated to fluctuate and change course over time, however, very little research has examined factors that underlie these changes in DE. Higher negative urgency has been associated with elevated DE frequency, and preliminary evidence suggests that negative urgency may change concurrently with DE symptoms. Moreover, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS), are all associated with DE engagement, implicating an important role for negative affect in DE engagement. Despite this evidence, there is a paucity of literature examining the association between negative urgency and DE frequency over time, and how acute negative emotional states may moderate this relationship. The current study aimed to address this research gap by examining the association between negative urgency and DE frequency over time, and if symptoms of DAS moderate this relationship. It was hypothesized that DE frequency and negative urgency would share a significantly coupled relationship, and that symptoms of DAS would significantly moderate this relationship. Specifically, negative urgency would be more strongly coupled with DE frequency when DAS symptoms were high, as compared to when DAS symptoms were low. Two cohorts of first year undergraduate students (N = 645) completed monthly self-reports of negative urgency, symptoms of DAS, and DE frequency over their first two semesters of post-secondary study (7 months total). Multilevel Models revealed that indeed negative urgency and DE frequency share a statistically significant coupled relationship over time (p < .001), and that depressive symptoms moderate this relationship (p < .001) such that the coupled association between negative urgency and DE frequency was strengthened by depression. The current study is the first to examine how negative urgency and DE frequency co-vary over time and how negative affect moderates this association. The results illuminate the importance of considering interactions between established risk factors and negative emotional states in the engagement and frequency of DE behaviours, and offers preliminary insight into correlates of change in DE frequency over time. / Graduate

There has been little scientific work exploring eating pathology among Jewish women in the United States, even though research has suggested that body image and eating behavior may be especially problematic within this group. Research has also demonstrated the importance of religion in eating pathology, such that extrinsic religiousness may represent a vulnerability mechanism, whereas intrinsic religiousness may act as a protective factor against disordered eating. Thus, the current study examines the association between religion and disordered eating among Christian (n = 145) and Jewish Caucasian (n = 73) women. The role of culture was also explored among Jewish women. All participants completed self-report questionnaires at Time 1 and then six weeks later at Time 2. Jewish and Christian women had comparable levels of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. Results revealed that neither extrinsic religiousness nor intrinsic religiousness predicted disordered eating among the Jewish group. Hypotheses regarding religious motivation and religious adherence were partially supported among the Christian group. These findings highlight that Allport and Ross’s religion framework may not be appropriate for use with Jewish female samples. Similarly, identifying with Jewish culture did not predict disordered eating. As a whole, these findings emphasize the striking need for more empirical data on what does contribute to a Jewish woman’s vulnerability to eating disorder symptoms.

Eating disorders are among the most common clinical manifestations in children, and they are frequently connected with maternal psychopathological risk, internalizing/externalizing problems in children, and poor quality of mother–child feeding exchanges. During the COVID-19 lockdown, in person assessment and intervention were impeded due to the indications of maintaining interpersonal distancing and by limits to travel. Therefore, web-based methods were adopted to meet patients’ needs. In this study N = 278 participants completed the SCL-90/R and the CBCL to examine the psychopathological symptoms of mothers and children (age of the children = 24 months); moreover, the dyads were video-recorded during feeding and followed an online video-feedback based intervention. Maternal emotional state, interactive conflict, food refusal in children, and dyadic affective state all improved considerably, as did offspring internalizing/externalizing problems and mothers’ depression, anxiety, and obsession–compulsion symptoms. This study showed that video-feedback web-based intervention might be employed successfully to yield considerable beneficial effects. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

In Part 1 of this thesis the interaction of personality variables in predicting risk of disordered eating is examined. Shyness and an interaction between neuroticism and introversion were found to increase risk of disordered eating in independent university samples. These findings highlight a potential genetic susceptibility to eating pathology by demonstrating similar personality vulnerabilities in clinical eating disorders, as in nonclinical disordered eating. However, the implications and generalizations that can be drawn from these first two studies are limited by the equivocal relationship between disordered eating and eating disorders. Part 2 of the thesis examines the continuum theory of eating disorders. A theoretical hypothesis is introduced and offers a framework for thinking of thoughts separate from behaviours. Through a review ofexisting literature, it is noted that eating disorder thoughts are far more prevalent than the behaviours, and while the thoughts can occur independent of the behaviours, behaviours are necessarily tied to pathological thoughts. Preliminary empirical support for this hypothesis is presented by modeling eating disorder thoughts and behaviours as distinct latent constructs in a confirmatory factor analysis using data from a large sample of university females. Frequency analyses of eating disorder thoughts and behaviours offered support for the argument that eating disorder symptoms are not normally distributed across non-clinical settings. As predicted, thoughts occurred independent of the behaviours, and behaviours occurred only in conjunction with thoughts. The interaction of eating disorder thoughts with eating disorder behaviours provided the most robust predictor of psychopathology, although the relative contribution of thoughts and behaviours to psychopathology was not equivalent. These results were replicated in a national epidemiological sample offemales ages 15 to 34 years, and the findings were consistent with results from the university sample. Behaviours were more consistently associated with psychopathology in both the university sample and the national sample. The contribution of this thesis to the field of epidemiological research in eating disorders is through the recommendation that screening instruments use behaviours to identify cases and a high threshold of thoughts in risk assessment. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The overarching goal of this study is to enhance the current understanding of how college students with disordered eating experience alcohol. The study focuses on negative consequences, drinking behaviors, alcohol expectancies, and outcomes to a high-risk drinking prevention program. Taking a novel perspective to examine these problem behaviors, the current study uses a national sample of college students (N=8,095) who participated in an internet-based alcohol prevention program (AlcoholEdu for College, www.outsidetheclassoom.com). Multiple multivariate analyses were conducted. The results found that male and female college students with disordered eating are a high-risk drinking population. They reported higher rates of binge drinking, experienced more negative alcohol consequences, and engaged in more risky drinking behaviors and less protective drinking behaviors than college students without disordered eating. Additionally, most but not all, college students with disordered eating endorsed higher alcohol expectancies. College students with mild disordered eating also reported slightly worse outcomes to the program than students without disordered eating. The results suggest that college students with disordered eating should be targeted as a high-risk drinking population.</p> / Dissertation

Prevalence rates for adolescent depressive symptoms differ significantly between males and females. Explanatory models are unable to adequately clarify why this difference exists. To enhance understanding of gender differences, the role of intrapersonal risk factors body dissatisfaction (BD) and disordered eating behaviour (DEB) were investigated using secondary data from a sample of high school students from industrial Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Results showed that 32.4% of females and 20.6% of males experienced depressive symptoms over the past week. Both genders were at an increased risk for depressive symptoms if they had BD (OR male 1.71, OR female 1.39) or DEB (OR male 3.35, OR female 3.40). Findings indicated that males and females shared similar rather than differing risk behaviour profiles in relation to depressive symptoms with respect to DEB.

This study examined the influence of acculturation on disordered eating attitudes and behaviours of Afro-Caribbean women living in Canada. 134 Afro-Caribbean women, aged 18-35 years, completed an online questionnaire evaluating body satisfaction, two indices of acculturation, adaptation and maintenance, and disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. One domain of acculturation, Canadian cultural adaptation, was found to moderate the relation between body satisfaction and disordered eating: Those who most strongly identified with Canadian culture had the strongest relation between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating and attitudes. Disordered eating attitudes and behaviours were reported most often in individuals with high Canadian cultural adaptation and identification with Canadian values. Suggestions for further research and clinical implications are discussed

The longitudinal relationship between borderline personality features, disordered eating behaviour, and the role of impulsivity were examined using a sample of 643 Canadian adolescents from the McMaster Teen Study. Participants were assessed annually, beginning in Grade 7 until Grade 12.Using path analysis, the results suggest that higher symptoms of impulsivity increase an adolescent’s risk of engaging in disordered eating behaviour, as well as developing borderline personality features in later years. Results also showed a bidirectional relationship between these variables, whereby borderline personality features and disordered eating influence one another throughout time. As well, disordered eating appeared as an antecedent for borderline personality features. The findings highlight the importance for clinicians to be aware of the high comorbidity of disordered eating, borderline personality features, and impulsivity, and that early interventions that target impulsivity and problematic eating behaviour may mitigate the risk of future borderline personality features. Clinical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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