Task 7 Flashcards
What is something that makes it difficult to assign a single eating disorder to one person?
Patients often drift between disorders
How long does one have to go without bingeing or purging to be considered of the restrictive subtype of anorexia?
3 Months
When is BMI considered abnormal?
When it is less than 18
What is a common symptom of anorexia in females?
Amenorrhea (Absence of the period)
What is the difference between Bulimia and the binge-eating subtype of anorexia?
The binge-eating subtype of anorexia is still underweight
What effect does race have on the prevalence of eating disorders?
- According to the beauty ideal of the culture, the number of anorexic people can differ.
- Most common in Caucasians
How long do people typically suffer from Anorexia?
7 years for women and 3 for men
Why is Anorexia so dangerous?
It has a 5-9% death rate and suicide is very common
Why are bulimic people often harder to spot?
They may very well be of normal weight
What can be said about duration of Bulimia?
After 15 years, 50% of patients still show some symptoms.
What is the spectrum Hypothesis and what does it criticize?
That all eating Disorders are the same syndrome with different manifestations.
-> Criticizes that boarders between diagnoses seems arbitrary and overly precise, and that a binge is not defined clearly enough.
What is a trait, that might set people with AN apart from people with BN?
Individuals with BN tend to be more impulsive.
Why is it difficult to develop theories about eating disorders?
Because they are almost impossible to research experimentally.
Although it is often assumed, that influence from peers and the media has an influence, this cannot be taken for granted. Why?
Because it is unclear if it is correlation or causation, or if even the eating disorder causes exposure to certain types of media and people.
What are two central cognitive aspects in the maintenance of an eating disorder?
- Internalization of thin-ideal
- Body Dissatisfaction
What is a point of criticism against the assumption that prevalence of eating disorder is a function of ethnicity within a society?
It rather tends to be a function of SES and race is something that varies as a function of SES.
How can parenting style influence the development of eating disorders?
If it is either too negligent or too coercive, this can trigger an eating disorder.
What are individual factors that correlate with eating disorder? (6)
- Negative experiences -> Maladaptive coping strategy
- Negative Affect (high scores on guilt, hostility & anger)
- Low self-esteem
- Body Dissatisfaction
- Perfectionism
- Information processing (all or none thinking)
What combination of neurotransmitter abnormalities might play a key role in sustaining eating restriction?
elevated CRH and AVP
What seems to be the logic behind many of the biological mechanisms of eating disorders?
The disorder might not be biological initially, but is sustained by biological processes.
Why might the Hypothalamus play a role in eating disorders?
- It receives information about the body’s food intake and nutritional levels
- It sends the message when to stop eating
There are two subtypes of binge-eating. Explain these.
Dieting Subtype: Traying to maintain strict diet -> failure -> bingeing due to all-or-nothing-thinking -> purging due to guilt
Depressive Subtype: Eating as a coping mechanism
What is something that is initially very important for the success of a psychological treatment of eating disorders?
Gaining the trust of the patient.
Why is it important to involve the family in the treatment?
- Many patients drop out
- the patient might not be able to follow the program on their own
- parents need to learn how to take control of the child’s eating and weight
Which treatment paradigms show the best results for BN?
CBT & Interpersonal Treatment
What is a limitation of SSRIs and obesity medication in treating BN?
They decrease bingeing, but not the cognitive mechanisms behind it.
What is a surprising finding of Stice et al’s study on the effect of dieting on BN?
Putting people on a calorie-restricted diet decreased bingeing.
This might occur, as the restrictive diet in this experiment is different than the kind of diet BN patients normally have: It is very structured and not as drastic.
