Metacognitions play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Its function in anorexia nervosa (AN), however, has been neglected. Examining the role of metacognitions in AN may prove useful for developing the AN conceptualization currently lacking. Additionally, it may provide a desperately needed new route for AN treatment, as no efficacious treatment for adult AN is available to date. This study aimed to build on preliminary findings suggesting that individuals with AN are characterized by the cognitive attentional syndrome (CAS), the vital component in the Self-regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model underlying metacognitive processes. Hence, quantitative and qualitative measures of individuals with AN, dieting, and non-dieting adult women were examined to ascertain whether these groups embodied differences in their metacognitive frequency and nature. ANOVA, bivariate correlation, and ANCOVA were used for data analysis. Findings showed that the AN sample experienced higher overall metacognitions; particularly negative metacognitions and metacognitions around control. When anxiety and depression were controlled for, however, the association became non-significant. Nonetheless, anxious and depressive symptoms are greatly intertwined with eating symptoms and increased metacognitions in the AN sample are still highly plausible. Metacognitive themes endorsed by the AN sample were around sociability and control. Thought control strategies were found to be the same in all groups; however, the AN sample endorsed a higher utilization of punishment and a lower utilization of distraction. Several limitations including small AN sample size and no psychiatric control group should be taken into account. Overall, however, findings suggested that, because the AN sample was characteristic of the CAS and the S-REF model, dysfunctional metacognitions may be worth targeting in AN treatment.

Eating disorder expectancy theory proposes a causal role for expectancies for reinforcement from thinness. The authors conducted an experimental test of that hypothesis. Undergraduate college women (N = 154) were randomized to either a psychoeducational control of proven effectiveness or an experimental manipulation of thinness and restricting expectancies. Participants in each condition attended three experimental sessions and one, follow-up session, each one week apart. For both groups, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, purging frequency, and binge eating frequency declined over the course of the study. In addition, the thinness expectancy manipulation produced greater declines in thinness expectancies, body dissatisfaction, and purging behavior than the psychoeducational manipulation. These results provide further support for the role of expectancies in the etiology of eating disordered behaviors.

The!Wurpose of this study was to examine the effects of attributional style, mood, and self-esteem on the tendency to engage in bulimic behaviors. Specifically, it was proposed that individuals with a depressive attributional style (i.e. internal, stable, and global causes) would exhibit negative mood and low self-esteem, which would increase their tendency to engage in binging behaviors. Final data analyses were performed on 140 college females, exclusive of obese or anorexic restrictor females, enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Data consisted of self-report questionnaires which pertained to demographic characteristics, attributional style, positive and negative mood, self-esteem, and binging behaviors. The data were evaluated using path analytic techniques. Path coefficients were obtained via a series of multiple regression analyses. Although evidence did not fully support the proposed causal model, results did support the linear relationship between self-esteem and binging behaviors, andthe attributional dimension of globality with negative mood. Level of self-esteem appears to play an important role in relation to binge behaviors among the present nonclinical sample. Suggestions for future research and alternative models are proposed. / Department of Psychological Science

Ortorexia Nervosa (ON) är ett sällsynt förekommande ämne inom dagens forskning. ON behandlar en besatthet av en viss typ av livsmedel som senare leder till social isolering. Studien genomfördes med syfte att undersöka om ON förekommer bland gymnasieelever, om bassjälvkänsla och förvärvad självkänsla, vetskap om sitt eget BMI samt kön är kopplat till fenomenet. Undersökningen genomfördes med enkäter som mätte graden av ON samt självkänsla. Åttiofem gymnasieelever svarade på enkäterna. Resultatet visade att tretton procent av respondenterna fick poäng över tröskelvärdet för ON. Ingen signifikant korrelation uppkom beträffande relationen mellan könen. Undersökningen visade signifikanta samband mellan ON och de två typerna av självkänsla: vid högt behov av förvärvad självkänsla samt låg bassjälvkänsla tenderar individen att ha högre grad av ON.

No description available.

Although people with hyperphagia show significantly more patterns of stereotyped behaviour than matched demented controls the prolonged period of eating does not seem to be due to a stereotypy but to a delay in the satiation mechanism. Hyperphagia typically occurs in the middle stages of the dementing illness and lasts for a mean of about three years. These studies demonstrated that subjects with dementia who are hyperphagic have a major disturbance in the mechanisms controlling satiation, hunger, food choice and satiety.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship, frequency, gender differences, situations and motivations of self-induced vomiting after drinking alcohol with disordered eating, alcohol use and psychopathology; with a nonclinical university sample of males and females in New Zealand. Participants were 102 male and 159 female university students ranging in age from 17-35 years who completed a survey designed for this study along with tests that measure eating disordered attitudes and behaviours, bulimia symptoms, depression and alcohol use. Overall, 90.04% of the sample reported that they drink alcohol and, of that subset, 57.58% of males and 42.26% of females reported having self-induced vomiting after drinking alcohol. The behaviour was related to eating pathology, depression and alcohol use with gender differences apparent. Specifically, on measures of disordered eating, females who self-induce vomiting after drinking alcohol scored higher than females who do not report the behaviour (no difference apparent for males), and overall, females scored higher than males. In terms of hazardous alcohol use, males who self-induce vomiting after drinking alcohol scored higher than males who do not with the same true for females, and overall males scored higher than females. In terms of drinking at the dependency level, individuals who reported self-induced vomiting after drinking alcohol drink at a more harmful level than those who do not (both males and females) and more males than females reported hazardous alcohol usage rates. When examining depressed symptoms, females who selfinduce vomiting after drinking alcohol reported more depressed symptoms than females who do not, with males who reported the behaviour endorsing less depressed symptoms than males who do not. Overall, females indicated more depressed symptoms than males. Persons who engaged in the behaviour were more likely to endorse it as being acceptable, with this trend being stronger for males. Females who self-induce vomiting after drinking were more likely to endorse symptoms of anorexia, bulimia and depression, whereas males who reported the behaviour were more likely to indicate harmful drinking levels, and perform the behaviour to carry on drinking. Thus, for males, self-induced vomiting after drinking alcohol was related to substance abuse whereas, for females, the behaviour may be more related to disordered eating.

Doctor of Clinical Psychology / Master of Science / Despite a number of different psychotherapeutic approaches having been examined for use with patients with eating disorders, there is still no established psychological treatment associated with acceptable levels of long-term recovery. These poor recovery rates are associated with the observation that eating disorder patients are often ambivalent, or even resistant, to treatment. As such, research has begun to explore the use of Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), a treatment approach that aims to engage ambivalent and change resistant patients in the treatment process, with these individuals. Poor motivation to recover is particularly prominent within the inpatient eating disorder setting. However, no previous study has examined the use of MET to foster willingness to engage in treatment with this group of patients. The objectives of the current study were twofold. Firstly, an examination of the effectiveness of an inpatient eating disorders unit affiliated was undertaken in order to further the research base upon which future inpatient interventions can be built and compared. The second objective was to develop and evaluate a brief MET group program for inpatient eating disorder sufferers. The goal of the intervention was to enhance patients’ motivation to more effectively utilise the inpatient program and to hence positively impact upon their psychological, physical and behavioural functioning. Forty-two consecutive inpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria for an eating disorder were recruited into the current study and sequentially allocated to groups. Twenty-three inpatients completed four MET groups in addition to routine hospital care. A control group of 19 participants in the standard hospital treatment program was also employed (TAU group). The inpatient unit was associated with significant improvements on a number of physical, behavioural and emotional outcome measures. Despite no significant differences between the MET and the TAU groups being found on the overall formal outcome measures, there were nevertheless differences between the groups. Specifically, the MET groups appeared to foster longer-term motivation and engagement, and to promote treatment continuation. This study hopes to start a constructive debate on the role of MET in the inpatient eating disorders unit.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / Research indicates that eating disorders and anxiety disorders frequently co-occur. The prevalence of anxiety disorders amongst anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa samples has been reported in a number of investigations. Despite the significant number of research papers investigating the comorbidity between eating disorders and anxiety disorders, many are plagued by methodological problems, limiting the usefulness of findings. Furthermore, there is a significant lack of research examining the prevalence of eating disorders among anxiety patients, and as a result, the frequency of eating disorder pathology among patients presenting to specialty anxiety clinics is unclear. The current research investigated the prevalence of comorbid eating and anxiety disorders amongst 152 women presenting for either eating disorder treatment or anxiety disorder treatment. The prevalence of anxiety disorders was determined from a sample of 100 women presenting for inpatient and outpatient eating disorder treatment. The prevalence of eating disorders was determined from a sample of 52 women presenting for outpatient treatment of an anxiety disorder. The current study found that 65% of women with eating disorders also met criteria for at least one comorbid anxiety disorder. Furthermore, 69% reported the onset of the anxiety disorder to precede the onset of the eating disorder. Of the anxiety disorders diagnosed, Social Phobia was most frequently diagnosed (42%) followed by PTSD (26%), GAD (23%), OCD (5%), Panic/Ag (3%) and Specific Phobia (2%). We also found that 13.5% of women presenting for anxiety treatment also met criteria for a comorbid eating disorder. The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of eating and anxiety disorder comorbidity is high. It is hoped that the present research will have significant etiological and therapeutic implications and further the understanding of the development and maintenance of eating disorder pathology.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc. Psychology)--University of Waikato, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-61) Also available via the World Wide Web.