An exploratory investigation of purging disorder

Purging Disorder (PD) is an understudied pattern of behaviors within the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) category. Such categorization may suggest that PD is not clinically significant as other eating disorders. However, evidence has suggested that PD is associated with significant i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eating behaviors : an international journal 2013-01, Vol.14 (1), p.26-34
Main Authors: Smith, Kathryn E., Crowther, Janis H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Body image
Body Image - psychology
Bulimia
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa - physiopathology
Dietary restraint
Eating behavior disorders
Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)
eating habits
Feeding and Eating Disorders - classification
Feeding and Eating Disorders - physiopathology
Female
Humans
hunger
Medical sciences
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Purging Disorder
Severity of Illness Index
Students - psychology
Universities
Young Adult
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Summary:Purging Disorder (PD) is an understudied pattern of behaviors within the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) category. Such categorization may suggest that PD is not clinically significant as other eating disorders. However, evidence has suggested that PD is associated with significant impairments in psychosocial functioning and well-being. Despite the apparent clinical significance of PD, it remains to be determined if PD is distinct from other clinically significant eating disorders. The present study sought to assess the phenomenology, clinical significance, and distinctiveness of PD. Group scores on measures of eating pathology, body image disturbance, and psychological correlates were compared using MANOVA among a female undergraduate sample (N=94) meeting diagnostic criteria for PD (n=20), Bulimia Nervosa (BN; n=35), restrained eating (n=18), and healthy controls (n=21). Overall, results indicated the PD group reported less severe symptoms than BN but more severe symptoms than controls. The PD and restraint groups were similar on most variables (including subjective binge behavior), with the exception of perfectionism and hunger. Findings support the conceptualization of PD as existing along a spectrum of bulimic spectrum disorders rather than as a distinct diagnostic category. ► Purging Disorder (PD), Bulimia Nervosa, restraint, and controls were compared. ► Eating psychopathology, body image, and psychosocial variables were assessed. ► Overall, PD was less severe than Bulimia Nervosa but more severe than controls. ► The PD group reported more perfectionism but less hunger than the restraint group. ► These group comparisons suggest PD may exist along a spectrum of bulimic disorders.
ISSN:1471-0153
1873-7358
DOI:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2012.10.006