Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec;56(12):2328-2335.
doi: 10.1002/eat.24077. Epub 2023 Oct 18.

Examining trait-like factors as predictors of state-level responses to food intake in women with bulimia nervosa, purging disorder, and controls

Elizabeth H Fitzgerald  1 , Keanan J Joyner  2 , Pamela K Keel  1
Affiliations

Examining trait-like factors as predictors of state-level responses to food intake in women with bulimia nervosa, purging disorder, and controls

Elizabeth H Fitzgerald et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Theories suggest that elevated negative affect and weight/shape concerns explain both who is affected by bulimic symptoms as well as when bulimic symptoms occur, suggesting that individual differences predict within-subject differences. However, few studies have tested this theoretical premise.

Method: In the present study, participants (N = 119) diagnosed with bulimia nervosa (N = 57), purging disorder (N = 31), and non-eating disorder controls (N = 31) completed measures of negative affect and weight/shape concerns and later made momentary affect and weight/shape concerns ratings before and after an ad lib meal.

Results: State negative affect and weight/shape concerns increased post-meal. No moderating effect of trait negative affect was observed for state affect. In contrast, between-subject differences in weight/shape concerns moderated within-subject increases in state weight/shape concerns. Diagnostic group did not account for this effect.

Discussion: Findings point to viable treatment targets for disordered eating. Targeting elevated weight/shape concerns early in interventions could facilitate reductions in purging after food intake for bulimia nervosa and purging disorder.

Public significance: In the present study, individual differences in weight/shape concerns at baseline predicted greater increases in state weight/shape concerns following eating. These effects were maintained when considering possible differences related to presence and type of eating disorder. Results suggest that targeting weight/shape concerns earlier in treatment may be important for reducing maladaptive responses to eating across eating disorders.

Keywords: affect; bulimia nervosa; purging disorder; weight concerns.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Ad lib meal model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Alleva JM, Sheeran P, Webb TL, Martijn C, & Miles E. (2015). A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image. PloS one, 10(9), e0139177. 10.1371/journal.pone.0139177 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alpers GW & Tuschen-Caffier B. (2001). Negative feelings and the desire to eat in bulimia nervosa. Eating Behaviors, 2(4), 339–352. doi: 10.1016/s1471-0153(01)00040-x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beck AT, Ward C, & Mendelson M. (1961). “Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)”. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571. - PubMed
    1. Berg KC, Cao L, Crosby RD, Engel SG, Peterson CB, Crow SJ, Le Grange D, Mitchell JE, Lavender JM, Durkin N, & Wonderlich SA (2017). Negative affect and binge eating: Reconciling differences between two analytic approaches in ecological momentary assessment research. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50(10), 1222–1230. 10.1002/eat.22770 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Corstorphine E, Waller G, Ohanian V, Baker M. (2006). Changes in internal states across the binge-vomit cycle in bulimia nervosa. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194(6), 446–449. doi: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000221303.64098.23 - DOI - PubMed