Objective: To assess an alternative trans-diagnostic indicator for severity based on drive for thinness (DT) for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED), and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), and to compare this new approach to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) severity categories for EDs. Method: A total of 2,811 ED [428 AN-restrictive (AN-R), 313 AN-binge purging (AN-BP), 1,340 BN, 329 BED, 154 OSFED/atypical AN (AT), and 223 OSFED/purging disorder (PD)] patients were classified using: (a) The DSM-5 severity categories and (b) a DT categorisation. These severity classifications were then compared based on ED symptoms, general psychopathology, personality, and impulsive behaviours.Results: For the DSM-5 categories, most ED patients fell into the 'mild' to 'moderate' categories. Using the DT categories, AN patients were mainly represented in the 'low' DT category, and BN, OSFED/AT, and PD in the 'high' DT category. The clinically significant findings were stronger for the DT than the DSM-5 severity approach (medium-to-large effect sizes). AN-BP and AN-R provided the most pronounced effects. Conclusion:Our findings question the clinical value of the DSM-5 severity categorisation, and provide initial support for an alternative DT severity approach for AN. Highlights• This study assessed an alternative trans-diagnostic drive for thinness (DT) severity.

The current review assessed the clinical utility of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) and alternative severity ratings for eating disorders (EDs) in their ability to distinguish ED psychopathology between the severity groups and frequency distribution of these severity ratings. EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, and ProQuest were used to identify relevant academic and grey literature published between 2013 and June 2021. Twenty-two studies were retrieved for the systematic review, and 19 studies qualified for the meta-analyses. We found that individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were close to evenly represented across the DSM–5 severity groups. Conversely, approximately 82% of those with binge eating disorder (BED) were categorized into the mild and the moderate severity groups. In terms of differences across the DSM–5 severity groups for ED symptomatology, we found various significant differences for BN (g = .23–1.23), but only a few significant differences for AN (g = .002–.30) and BED (g = .13–1.55). Finally, using the alternative ED severity rating overvaluation of weight and shape, significant differences were observed in ED psychopathology between the low and high weight/shape overvaluation BED severity groups (g = .13–1.23). The findings of this review provide support for the clinical utility of the DSM–5 severity ratings in BN, but not in AN or BED, and suggest an alternative severity classification for BED based on overvaluation of weight and shape that may have utility as a severity indicator.

Night eating syndrome (NES) is currently classified as an Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) under the Diagnostic Statistical Manual−5 (DSM-5). This systematic review aims to consolidate the studies that describe the sociodemographic, clinical and psychological features of NES in a population of patients with eating disorders (ED), obesity, or those undergoing bariatric surgery, and were published after the publication of the DSM-5. A further aim was to compare, where possible, NES with BED on the aforementioned variables. Lastly, we aimed to appraise the quality of the studies being included in the review. We conducted a systematic search on three databases (MEDLINE, PubMed and Embase) which resulted in the selection of 22 studies for the review. We included the articles that studied patients with NES and their sociodemographic, clinical and psychological features in a clinical (i.e., ED, obese or bariatric surgery) population, through a quantitative study design. Articles were excluded if the NES patients included in the study had a comorbid psychological disorder, and/or the sample was collected from a university/non-clinical population, and/or the study design was qualitative, and/or NES features were compared with any other disorder, except BED. Our study found that no conclusions about the link between any sociodemographic feature (such as, age, gender, income, etc.) and an NES diagnosis could be made. Further, NES patients presented with elevated ED pathology (including emotional eating and loss of control eating) and higher occurrence of depressive symptoms than controls. Contrary to the literature suggesting that NES and Binge Eating Disorder (BED; an ED subtype which is also comorbid with obesity) patients often report overlapping features, questioning the validity of NES as an ED diagnosis, we found that BED can be differentiated from NES by the higher occurrence of emotional eating, body related concerns and abnormal eating episodes. The review also suggested an overlap between NES and Sleep-Related Eating Disorder. We recommend that it is essential to study NES as an independent disorder to further develop its diagnostic criteria and treatment options, thereby, increasing the quality of life of the patients suffering from this syndrome.

Objective: This study evaluated the severity ratings for anorexia nervosa (AN) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and an alternative severity rating based on overvaluation of weight/shape, on a range of psychological and biological variables. Method: A sample of 312 treatment-seeking patients with AN (mean age = 25.3, SD = 7.6; mean BMI = 16.8 kg/m 2 , SD = 2.4) were categorised using both DSM-5 severity levels (mild/moderate/severe/extreme) and weight/ shape (low/high) overvaluation. The severity categories were compared on a range of psychological (e.g., eating psychopathology) and biological (e.g., sodium) variables. Results:Results showed that the overvaluation of weight/shape appeared better at indexing the level of severity in psychological variables among patients with AN compared to the DSM-5 severity rating with moderate to large effect sizes. Moreover, the DSM-5 mild and moderate severity groups experienced significantly higher eating and general psychopathology than the severe and extreme groups. Finally, neither the DSM-5 nor the weight/shape severity groups differed on any of the biological variables. Conclusions:This study provided no support for the DSM-5 severity rating for AN, while initial support was found for the weight/shape overvaluation approach in indexing psychological but not biological correlates.

Objective The high co-occurrence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviours and eating disorder (ED) symptoms suggests these conditions share common aetiological processes. We assessed a new integrative model of shared factors for NSSI and ED symptoms, where affect dysregulation, impulsivity, self-esteem, and body dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between insecure attachment and maladaptive schemas and NSSI and ED symptoms. A further aim of the study was to assess whether the model behaved similarly across a clinical eating disorder (ED) and a community sample. Method 123 females with a lifetime ED diagnosis and 531 female individuals from the community completed an online survey, which included measures assessing the variables of interest. A cross-sectional single time point analysis was used. Results Invariance testing indicated that the model was structurally non-invariant (different across groups). The proposed integrative model was a good fit for the ED group, but for the community sample only a revised model reached an acceptable fit. Both attachment and maladaptive schemas, included early in the model, were implicated in the pathways leading to ED and NSSI symptoms in the ED and community groups. In the community group, impulsivity, a mediator, was a shared predictor for NSSI and bulimic symptoms. No other mediating variables were shared by NSSI and ED symptoms in the two groups. Overall, the proposed model explained slightly more variance for the ED group relative to the community group in drive for thinness (R2 = .57 vs .51) and NSSI (R2 = .29 vs .24) but less variance in bulimic symptoms (R2 = .33 vs .39). Conclusion We conclude that the current model provides only limited support for explaining the comorbidity between NSSI and ED symptoms. It is vital to consider both common (e.g., attachment and maladaptive schemas) and specific factors (e.g., impulsivity) to better understand the pathways that lead to the co-occurrence of NSSI and ED symptoms. A new integrative model assessed whether emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, self-esteem, and body dissatisfaction were mediators in the relationship between insecure attachment and maladaptive beliefs about the world and the self and subsequent eating disorder and self-harm symptoms. A further aim was to assess whether the proposed model differed between a clinical eating disorder and a community sample. All participants were female and included 123 patients with a lifetime eating disorder and 531 individuals from the community. Participating individuals completed an online survey at one timepoint, which included measures assessing the variables of interest. The findings of the current study indicated that the proposed model was a good match for the clinical eating disorder sample, but for the community sample only a revised model yielded acceptable statistical fit. Both insecure attachment and maladaptive beliefs about the world and the self, included early in the model, were indirectly related to eating disorder and self-harm symptoms for both the eating disorder and the community groups. Impulsivity, a mediator, was the only shared predictor for self-harm, and bulimic symptoms in the community group. We conclude that the current model provides only limited support for explaining the comorbidity between self-harming behaviours and disordered eating symptoms.