Eating disorders (EDs) are mental disorders characterized by altered eating habits and excessive concerns about weight and body shape. They arise mainly during adolescence and predominantly affect females. The three most common types of EDs are: •Anorexia nervosa (AN), which is characterized by restriction of food intake, significant low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and disturbances in body shape and weight experience; •Bulimia nervosa (BN), which is characterized by recurrent binge-eating episodes followed by behaviors that compensate for the overeating (i.e., self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or extreme use of laxatives, enemas or diuretics), and self-evaluation based on body shape and weight; •Binge eating disorder (BED), which is characterized by the recurrence of binge-eating episodes without the use of compensatory behaviors for weight control, and feelings of distress, embarrassment and guilt. To date, researchers and clinicians agree that a multifactorial model is the most suitable for explaining the onset and maintenance of EDs. For example, a risk factor for BED may be lower parental care, as it may trigger greater confusion and uncertainty in responding to unpleasant emotional experiences. This contributes to an impaired personality development, more severe psychopathological symptomatology, and greater difficulty in both identifying and distinguishing feelings of hunger and satiety from other emotions. Attachment styles have also been explored in patients with EDs. According to the attachment theory, attachment insecurity could disrupt the ability to identify and express emotional states and might impair affect regulation skills (i.e. emotional dysregulation). Within the two main dimensions of attachment insecurity (i.e., attachment anxiety and avoidance), higher attachment anxiety is related to greater symptom severity in patients with AN and BN. Moreover, prior studies have examined impaired emotional competences (ECs), theory of mind (ToM) and metacognition, which refer to how individuals identify, express, understand, regulate, and use their emotions or those of significant others. These skills may also explain why attachment insecurity places individuals at greater risk of EDs. Although particular personality traits (i.e. impulsivity, perfectionism, self-esteem), attachment styles, trauma, and metacognition clearly play a role in the onset and maintenance of EDs, little is known about their associations and underlying mechanisms.

Eating disorders are common psychiatric disorders, especially in adolescent and adult females. Given the significant impairment these disorders cause, patients often require intensive inpatient treatment; however the majority of outcome studies are related to outpatient treatment. The purpose of this study was to create and test a theoretical model that predict inpatient treatment outcomes for patients with eating disorders using structural equation modeling. The goal of the current study was to examine predictors of treatment outcomes in an inpatient and partial hospitalization eating disorder program. The sample consisted of a total of 140 subjects with bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and eating disorders NOS. Empirically supported risk factors for the development and maintenance of eating disorders, including demographic factors, biological factors and psychological factors were included in the model. Structural equation modeling was used because it allows for the production and testing of theoretical models that can then be used in predicting and studying treatment outcomes in this population. To refine the proposed model separate linear regression analyses were conducted on both the psychological and eating disorder severity risk factors and the treatment outcome variable. Overall, psychological severity risk factors model was statistically significant. The results from this multivariate regression using eating disorder severity factors were statistically significant as well. The revised model was tested by an EFA including the variables in the model. The items converged into two factors; however they did not align according to the predicted model of Psychological Severity and Eating Disorder Severity Factors. Instead they formed the first factor termed: Mental Health Factors in ED and the second factor called Self Destructive/Impulsive Behavior. The final model showed a superior fit to the data. One important clinical implication is the effect of financial restraints and health care insurance systems on clinical treatments, as evident by the relatively large number of patients who had to leave treatment early due to financial restraints. Other findings support the need for early treatment intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Our understanding of eating disorders has improved markedly over the past 10 years since the publication of the previous edition of this volume. Early intervention is the key, as body dissatisfaction, obsession with thinness, and restrained and binge eating can be found in those as young as ten. Exploring prevention methods and therapeutic options, the second edition of Eating Disorders in Women and Children: Prevention, Stress Management, and Treatment is updated with new research on these devastating maladies. Highlights in the second edition include: An emphasis on the physiology of eating disorders and genetic factors related to anorexia and bulimia Theories on prevention and the identification of at-risk individuals The latest information on therapeutic modalities, including cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, constructionist, and narrative approaches as well as pharmaceutical management Nutritional evaluation and treatment Specific exercise recommendations for women and children with eating disorders An accompanying CD-ROM containing a PowerPoint® presentation for each chapter With contributions from acclaimed clinicians widely known for their work with the eating disorder population, this volume recognizes the multifaceted nature of these disorders, addresses the widening demographic range of those afflicted, and delves into the issues behind their development. It provides practical recommendations for treatment from many perspectives, presenting enormous hope for people who painfully struggle with these disorders. In addition, it explores critical measures that can be taken to help the larger population understand and work to prevent eating disorders in their communities.

In a detailed analysis of the field of eating problems and disorders, this book highlights the connections between the prevention of eating problems and disorders, and theory and research in the areas of prevention and health promotion. It also looks at models of risk development and prevention, specific issues and challenges, the status of current prevention research, and lessons for prevention program development. In this unique text Levine and Smolak draw on a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, including prevention science, developmental psychology, public health, and neuroscience, to provide a thorough review, history, and critique of the topic in light of a range of empirical studies. The only authored volume with a broad, detailed and integrated view of theories, research, and practice, this expanded, fully revised, and updated new edition features new chapters on dissonance-based approaches, public health, biopsychiatry and neuroscience, gender, culture(s), technology, obesity, protective factors, and ecological approaches. The Prevention of Eating Problems and Eating Disorders: Theories, Research, and Applications is essential reading for clinicians, academics, researchers, graduate students, upper-level undergraduates, and activists and advocates involved in work pertaining to eating disorders, disordered eating, prevention, health promotion, body image, obesity and biopsychosocial perspectives.

How do athletes overcome fears, slumps, mental blocks, or injuries? How do they deal with stress and anxiety, be it from competitors, teammates, audiences, parents, coaches, or themselves? What psychological techniques prove effective in mental training for peak performance, maintaining concentration, motivation, and competitive drive? How can an athlete enhance his or her commitment to a training regimen, or how might the average person better adhere to a program of fitness and exercise? Readers will find answers to these questions and more in the Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Features & Benefits: Entries explore the theory, research, and application of psychology as it relates to sport and fitness in a manner that is accessible and jargon-free to help readers better understand human behavior in sport and exercise settings. From personal factors to situational factors influencing performance to specific psychological techniques for enhancing performance, this work provides comprehensive coverage of the field via approximately 350 to 400 signed entries. Entries conclude with cross-references and suggestions for further readings to guide students further in their research journey. Available in print and online, this monumental work is edited by two leading figures in the field with a distinguished international Editorial Advisory Board to select and assign entries, ensuring authoritative content readers can trust. Key Themes: Career Transition Certification, Credentialing, and Roles of Sport and Exercise Psychologists Disability Emotion Exercise Health Group Dynamics History and Foundation Leadership Morality, Aggression, and Ethics in Sport Motivation Motor Control Perception and Cognition in Sport Personality and Psychological Characteristics in Sport Psychobiology Psychological Skills/Interventions Psychosociocultural Self-Concept/Self-Perceptions, and Identity Youth Sport

Body image is a subjective multidimensional construction that has an early and continuous influence on one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Throughout the lifespan, the body image suffers several influences and changes, as it is a complex and contextualized construct. Body image distortion may lead to the development of an eating disorder. Eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that results in altered consumptions or absorptions of food and that can significantly impair physical health or psychological functioning. This book provides an in-depth review of the prevalence of eating disorders. It also discusses several risk factors, and available treatment options for those suffering from eating disorders

Although eating problems--ranging from body dissatisfaction and dieting to anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa--can begin and typically have their roots in childhood, theory and research in developmental psychopathology and developmental psychology have not received substantial attention in eating disorders research. This book provides crucial background material from both fields, and then makes direct applications to numerous aspects of the field of eating disorders including theory, research, treatment, and primary prevention. This book was born out of a transaction between frustration and optimism. The frustrations reflected the limitations of current knowledge about eating problems and disorders. Etiological "causes" which are sensitive and specific to eating disorders have been elusive. Although there is some understanding of risk factors, little is known about protective factors. This has made prevention, among other things, difficult. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying the association between risk factors and disordered eating are poorly understood. For example, it is known that women are at greater risk than men are, but clinicians are hard- pressed to get beyond gender-based speculations and demonstrate why this is true. The optimism grows from familiarity with the field of developmental psychopathology. It seems evident that this approach has much to offer the field of eating disorders. This book is an early step in the integration of developmental psychopathology into theorizing, research, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders. It addresses four specific goals: * to introduce the principles and methodologies of developmental psychopathology, * to review the work of developmental psychologists in several major areas of behavior relevant to understanding the causes, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders, * to apply developmental psychopathology principles to the area of eating disorders, both in the form of theoretical models and in specific areas/issues raised by developmental psychopathology, and * to discuss the implications of developmental approaches for prevention programs and treatments.

Our understanding of eating disorders has improved markedly over the past 10 years since the publication of the previous edition of this volume. Early intervention is the key, as body dissatisfaction, obsession with thinness, and restrained and binge eating can be found in those as young as ten. Exploring prevention methods and therapeutic options,

[Truncated abstract] Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are serious illnesses associated with severe psychological, physiological, and psychosocial impairments. Subclinical eating disorders and eating disorder symptoms affect a significant proportion of the female population and a smaller proportion of the male population. Recent evidence also supports the presence of clinically significant eating disorder symptoms in children (Madden, Morris, Zurynski, Kohn, & Elliot, 2009; Nicholls, Lynn, & Viner, 2011; Pinhas, Morris, Crosby, & Katzman, 2011). Given the pervasiveness of body image disturbance and the significant prevalence of eating disorder symptomatology among both males and females of all ages, there is a growing need to effectively prevent and treat eating disorders. Empirical studies identifying and delineating the risk and maintaining factors associated with eating disorders are therefore essential. Researchers have identified a number of individual, interpersonal, biological, and sociocultural factors that appear to contribute to the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Of interest to this thesis was one specific individual factor, self-objectification, and how it interacts with other putative risk factors to predict eating disorder symptoms. Whilst this putative risk factor has received adequate attention in young adult populations, the etiological significance of self-objectification in the development of body surveillance, body image disturbance, and disordered eating in young children has not been clearly established. Accordingly, within the context of objectification theory, this thesis aimed to longitudinally examine the role of self-objectification in the development of eating disorder symptoms in 6- to 11-year-old boys and girls. This aim was accomplished in three broad studies. The first study of this thesis (Chapter 3) modified currently available measures of self-objectification (Self-Objectification Questionnaire; SOQ) and objectified body consciousness (Objectified Body Consciousness Scale for Youth; OBC-Y) in adults and adolescents for use with a child sample. The psychometric properties of these modified measures were then examined. Results suggest that scores on modified versions of the OBC-Y and SOQ may provide researchers with psychometrically sound measures of the key components of objectification theory in children (particularly girls), thereby facilitating the research conducted in Study 2...