What constitutes clinically significant binge eating? Association between binge features and clinical validators in college‐age women

Abstract

Objective To investigate the association between binge features and clinical validators. Method The Eating Disorder Examination assessed binge features in a sample of 549 college-age women: loss of control (LOC) presence, binge frequency, binge size, indicators of impaired control, and LOC severity. Clinical validators were self-reported clinical impairment and current psychiatric comorbidity, as determined via a semistructured interview. Results Compared with women without LOC, those with LOC had significantly greater odds of reporting clinical impairment and comorbidity (ps < 0.001). Among women with LOC (n = 252), the indicators of impaired control and LOC severity, but not binge size or frequency, were associated with greater odds of reporting clinical impairment and/or comorbidity (ps < 0.05). Discussion Findings confirm that the presence of LOC may be the hallmark feature of binge eating. Further, dimensional ratings about the LOC experience—and possibly the indicators of impaired control—may improve reliable identification of clinically significant binge eating.

The Specificity of Psychological Factors Associated with Binge Eating in Adolescent Boys and Girls

“…Nevertheless, most studies addressing BE in samples of children and adolescents use cut-off-values of monthly BE or even fewer (Croll et al 2002;Hilbert, Hartmann, Czaja, and Schoebi 2013;Tanofsky-Kraff et al 2011) and research suggests that individuals with subthreshold BE do not differ from individuals displaying full syndrome BED with regard to overweight, eating disorder symptoms and associated psychopathology (Striegel-Moore et al 2000). Furthermore, there is evidence that the frequency of BEepisodes is not associated with impairment and psychiatric comorbidity, whereas the feeling of loss of control over eating seems to be the crucial feature of clinically significant BE (Vannucci et al 2013). Finally, the psychometric properties of our self-esteem measurement proved to be unacceptably low and this should be kept in mind when interpreting the results.…”

Temporal associations between affective instability and dysregulated eating behavior in bulimia nervosa

“…Bulimia nervosa (BN) is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating, defined most saliently by a sense of “loss of control” over eating (Mond et al, 2010; Shomaker et al, 2010; Vannucci et al, 2013; Wolfe et al, 2009), and compensatory behaviors (e.g., self-induced vomiting, laxative misuse; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The disorder is associated with significant medical complications, high rates of comorbid psychopathology, and substantial psychosocial impairment (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Wonderlich and Mitchell, 1997).…”

A systematic review of attentional biases in disorders involving binge eating

“…Even among individuals who do not meet diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder, the presence of binge and loss of control (LOC) eating confers risk for elevated eating disorder psychopathology, psychosocial distress, excess body weight, and clinical impairment (Tanofsky-Kraff, Yanovski, & Yanovski, 2011; Vannucci et al, 2013). Therefore, it is important to identify mechanisms that contribute to the etiology and/or maintenance of binge eating behaviors so that potentially modifiable risk factors can be identified for targeted interventions.…”