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1. Presence and severity of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across the eating disorder diagnostic spectrum: A pilot study

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23095  

   Duffy, Mary E. ; Siegfried, Nicole ; Bass, Garrett ; Joiner, Thomas E. ( December 2020 , Journal of Clinical Psychology)

   There is a dearth of research on suicidal thoughts and behaviors among eating disorder patients diagnosed with binge eating disorder (BED) or other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED). This pilot study evaluated presence and severity of suicidal thoughts and behaviors by eating disorder diagnosis in a transdiagnostic clinical eating disorder sample.

   Participants were individuals (N = 257; 91.1% female; 94.6% Caucasian) currently receiving eating disorder treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), BED, or OSFED. Participants completed online measures of variables.

   Lifetime and current presence and severity of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were statistically similar among diagnostic groups.

   Though largely overlooked, treatment‐utilizing individuals with BED and OSFED may experience elevated rates and severity of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, like those with AN and BN. Attention to suicide‐related risk assessment and management is needed when treating individuals with eating disorders, regardless of diagnosis.

    

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2. Binge Drinking Decreases Corticotropin‐Releasing Factor‐Binding Protein Expression in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex of Mice

   https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.13119  

   Ketchesin, Kyle D. ; Stinnett, Gwen S. ; Seasholtz, Audrey F. ( July 2016 , Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research)

   Dysregulation of the corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF) system has been observed in rodent models of binge drinking, with a large focus onCRFreceptor 1 (CRF‐R1). The role ofCRF‐binding protein (CRF‐BP), a key regulator ofCRFactivity, in binge drinking is less well understood. In humans, single‐nucleotide polymorphisms inCRHBPare associated with alcohol use disorder and stress‐induced alcohol craving, suggesting a role forCRF‐BPin vulnerability to alcohol addiction.

   The role and regulation ofCRF‐BPin binge drinking were examined in mice exposed to the drinking in the dark (DID) paradigm. Using in situ hybridization, the regulation ofCRF‐BP,CRF‐R1, andCRFmRNAexpression was determined in the stress and reward systems of C57BL/6J mice after repeated cycles ofDID. To determine the functional role ofCRF‐BPin binge drinking,CRF‐BPknockout (CRF‐BP KO) mice were exposed to 6 cycles ofDID, during which alcohol consumption was measured and compared to wild‐type mice.

   CRF‐BPmRNAexpression was significantly decreased in the prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of C57BL/6J mice after 3 cycles and in thePLmPFCafter 6 cycles ofDID. No significant changes inCRForCRF‐R1 mRNAlevels were observed in mPFC, ventral tegmental area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, or amygdala after 3 cycles ofDID.CRF‐BP KOmice do not show significant alterations in drinking compared to wild‐type mice across 6 cycles of DID.

   These results reveal that repeated cycles of binge drinking alterCRF‐BPmRNAexpression in the mPFC, a region responsible for executive function and regulation of emotion and behavior, including responses to stress. We observed a persistent decrease inCRF‐BPmRNAexpression in the mPFCafter 3 and 6DIDcycles, which may allow for increasedCRFsignaling atCRF‐R1 and contribute to excessive binge‐like ethanol consumption.

    

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3. Implicit attitudes toward eating stimuli differentiate eating disorder and non‐eating disorder groups and predict eating disorder behaviors

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22843  

   Smith, April R. ; Forrest, Lauren N. ; Velkoff, Elizabeth A. ; Ribeiro, Jessica D. ; Franklin, Joseph ( February 2018 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   The current study tested whether people with and without eating disorders (EDs) varied in their implicit attitudes toward ED‐relevant stimuli. Additionally, the study tested whether implicit evaluations of ED‐relevant stimuli predicted ED symptoms and behaviors over a 4‐week interval.

   Participants were people without EDs (N =85) and people seeking treatment for EDs (N =92). All participants completed self‐report questionnaires and a version of the affect misattribution procedure (AMP) at baseline. The AMP indexed implicit evaluations of average body stimuli, eating stimuli, and ED‐symptom stimuli. Participants with EDs completed weekly follow‐up measures of ED symptoms and behaviors for 4 weeks.

   Contrary to predictions, the anorexia nervosa (AN) group did not differ from the no ED group on implicit attitudes toward ED‐symptom stimuli, and the bulimia nervosa (BN) group had less positive implicit attitudes toward ED‐symptom stimuli relative to the no ED group. In line with predictions, people with AN and BN had more negative implicit attitudes toward average body and eating stimuli relative to the no ED group. In addition, among the ED group more negative implicit attitudes toward eating stimuli predicted ED symptoms and behaviors 4 weeks later, over and above baseline ED symptoms and behaviors.

   Taken together, implicit evaluations of eating stimuli differentiated people with AN and BN from people without EDs and longitudinally predicted ED symptoms and behaviors. Interventions that increase implicit liking of eating‐related stimuli may reduce ED behaviors.

    

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4. Gender differences in eating disorder psychopathology across DSM‐5 severity categories of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22941  

   Zayas, Lazaro V. ; Wang, Shirley B. ; Coniglio, Kathryn ; Becker, Kendra ; Murray, Helen B. ; Klosterman, Eric ; Kay, Brian ; Bean, Pamela ; Weltzin, Theodore ; Franko, Debra L. ; et al ( September 2018 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   This study examined whether patterns of eating‐disorder (ED) psychopathology differed by gender acrossDSM‐5severity specifiers in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN).

   We tested whether ED psychopathology differed acrossDSM‐5 severity specifiers among 532 adults (76% female) in a residential treatment center with AN or BN. We hypothesized that severity of ED psychopathology would increase in tandem with increasing severity classifications for both males and females with AN and BN.

   Among females with BN,DSM‐5severity categories were significantly associated with increasing ED psychopathology, including Eating Disorder Examination‐Questionnaire dietary restraint, eating concern, shape concern, and weight concern; and Eating Disorder Inventory drive for thinness and bulimia. ED psychopathology did not differ acrossDSM‐5severity levels for males with BN. For both males and females with AN, there were no differences in ED psychopathology across severity levels.

   Results demonstrate thatDSM‐5severity specifiers may function differently for males versus females with BN. Taken together, data suggestDSM‐5severity specifiers may not adequately capture severity, as intended, for males with BN and all with AN. Future research should evaluate additional clinical validators ofDSM‐5severity categories (e.g., chronicity, treatment non‐response), and consider alternate classification schemes.

    

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5. An investigation of indirect effects of personality features on anorexia nervosa severity through interoceptive dysfunction in individuals with lifetime anorexia nervosa diagnoses

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23008  

   Duffy, Mary E. ; Rogers, Megan L. ; Joiner, Thomas E. ; Bergen, Andrew W. ; Berrettini, Wade ; Bulik, Cynthia M. ; Brandt, Harry ; Crawford, Steven ; Crow, Scott ; Fichter, Manfred ; et al ( January 2019 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   This study examined a hypothesized pathway by which interoceptive dysfunction accounted for associations between personality features (harm avoidance, self‐directedness, and perfectionism) and anorexia nervosa (AN) severity (indicated by drive for thinness, eating disorder‐related preoccupations and rituals, and body mass index).

   The study sample (n = 270, mean age = 28.47, 95.2% female, 98% White/Caucasian) consisted of probands and biological relatives who met DSM‐IV criteria for lifetime diagnoses of AN (omitting criterion D, amenorrhea) drawn from the Price Foundation Anorexia Nervosa Affected Relative Pairs Study (AN‐ARP). Participants completed measures assessing personality, interoceptive dysfunction, and eating pathology.

   Associations between personality features of low self‐directedness and high perfectionism and indicators of AN severity (drive for thinness and eating disorder‐related preoccupations and rituals) were significant, as were the hypothesized indirect pathways through interoceptive dysfunction. Neither harm avoidance nor body mass index was significantly related to other study variables, and the proposed indirect pathways involving these variables were not significant.

   Findings suggest that certain personality features may relate to AN severity, in part, through their associations with interoceptive dysfunction. Future research should examine prospective associations and the value of interventions targeting interoceptive dysfunction for interrupting the link between personality and AN severity.

    

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