This qualitative study retrospectively explored the help-seeking process in women with eating disorders. Interviews were conducted with 14 college-age women suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or eating disorder NOS. Grounded theory was utilized to develop a preliminary model of the help-seeking process. Participants described a gradual shift from denial to increased awareness of self and the impact of the illness. This core process was transient in nature and influenced by interpersonal feedback, critical incidents, the women's general attitude toward help- seeking, and prior treatment experiences. Implications for clinicians include an increased focus on the transient awareness of self and the illness.
Introduction: Military service members must maintain a certain body mass index and body fat percentage. Due to weight-loss pressures, some service members may resort to unhealthy behaviors that place them at risk for the development of an eating disorder (ED).Objectives: To understand the scope and impact of EDs in military service members and veterans, we formed the Longitudinal Eating Disorders Assessment Project (LEAP) Consortium. LEAP aims to develop novel screening, assessment, classification, and treatment tools for veterans and military members with a focus on EDs and internalizing psychopathology.
Methods:We recruited two independent nationally representative samples of post-9/11 veterans who were separated from service within the past year. Study 1 was a four-wave longitudinal survey and Study 2 was a mixed-methods study that included surveys, structured-clinical interviews, and qualitative interviews.Results: Recruitment samples were representative of the full population of recently separated veterans. Sample weights were created to adjust for sources of nonresponse bias to the baseline survey. Attrition was low relative to past studies of this population, with only (younger) age predicting attrition at 1-week follow-up.
Conclusions:We expect that the LEAP Consortium data will contribute to improved information about EDs in veterans, a serious and understudied problem.
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