It is hypothesized that situations requiring continous behavioral adjustment activate an integrated, hypothalamic response, the emergency reaction. The frequent elicitation of the physiologic changes associated with the emergency reaction has been implicated in the development of diseases such as hypertension. Prevention and treatment of these diseases may be through the use of the relaxation response, an integrated hypothalamic response whose physiologic changes appear to be the counterpart of the emergency reaction. This article describes the basic elements of techniques which elicit the relaxation response and discusses the results of clinical investigations which employ the relaxation response as a therapeutic intervention.

The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) was administered to 3 female undergraduate samples representing 2 campuses (N = 1,506). Subjects also provided information on family demographics and on eating, dieting, and exercise habits and attitudes. Very high rates of body dissatisfaction were reported. EDI factor analysis yielded a 6-factor structure accounting for 41 % of the variance. The Eating Disorders factor was a combination of 3 EDI clinical scales (Drive for Thinness, Bulimia, and lack of Interoceptive Awareness); 5 factors were identical to the other 5 EDI scales. Two risk groups were identified on the basis of extreme EDI factor scores: a body-dissatisfied group and a binge-purge group with poor psychological adjustment. For campus intervention programs, potential usefulness of the EDI for screening of relevant subgroups is discussed, with particular attention to body dissatisfaction.

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