Christina Marcondes Morgan

Eating-disordered behaviors, body fat, and psychopathology in overweight and normal-weight children.

This study examined eating-disordered pathology in relation to psychopathology and adiposity in 162 non-treatment-seeking overweight (OW) and normal weight (NW) children, ages 6-13 years. Participants experienced objective or subjective binge eating (S/OBE; loss-of-control eating), objective overeating (OO), or no episodes (NE). OW children experienced significantly higher eating-disordered cognitions and behaviors than NW children and more behavior problems than NW children: 9.3% endorsed S/OBEs, 20.4% reported OOs, and 70.4% reported NEs. OW children reported S/OBEs more frequently than did NW children (p =.01), but similar percentages endorsed OOs. S/OBE children experienced greater eating-disordered cognitions (ps from <.05 to <.01) and had higher body fat (p <.05) than OOs or NEs. OOs are common in childhood, but S/OBEs are more prevalent in OW children and associated with increased adiposity and eating-disordered cognitions.

Etiologia dos transtornos alimentares: aspectos biológicos, psicológicos e sócio-culturais

Eating disorders have a multifactorial etiology, composed by genetic predisposition, sociocultural factors, and biological and psychological vulnerabilities. Among the predisposing factors, emphasis is given to a history of eating and/or mood disorders, personality traits, patterns of family interaction, alterations in brain monoamines and sociocultural overvalued drive for thinness. Dieting is the most frequently event present at the onset of an eating disorder. Nevertheless, dieting itself is not sufficient to precipitate an eating disorder. An interaction among risk factors and other precipitating events is necessary. Finally, the chronic or transitory course of an eating disorder is related to the persistence of distorted cognitions, to the occurrence of significant vital events, and to starvation-induced psychobiological alterations.

Effects of the 5-HT3 antagonist, ondansetron, on the behavioral and physiological effects of pentagastrin in patients with panic disorder and social phobia

Pentagastrin, a cholecystokinin (CCK) agonist, produces anxiety and panic in patients with panic disorder and social phobia. Preclinical data suggests that pentagastrin-induced anxiogenesis may be mediated via 5-HT3 receptors. In the present study, 14 patients with panic disorder or social phobia underwent pharmacological challenge in three conditions: (1) pretreatment with saline followed by pentagastrin infusion; (2) pretreatment with ondansetron followed by pentagastrin infusion; and (3) pretreatment with saline followed by saline infusion. As expected, pentagastrin administration led to increased anxiety, physical symptoms of panic attacks, pulse, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol. Pentagastrins behavioral effects were not blocked by ondansetron, and in fact, tended to be exaggerated. Ondansetron pretreatment did not alter the pentagastrin-induced cortisol increase but significantly prolonged the pentagastrin-induced increase in ACTH. These findings suggest that pentagastrins behavioral effects are not mediated by 5HT3 receptors. Mechanisms by which peripherally administered CCK agonists lead to anxiety remain to be elucidated.

Validation of the portuguese version of the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns: revised (QEWP-R) for the screening of binge eating disorder

OBJECTIVE The present paper describes the validation of the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised (QEWP-R) designed for the diagnosis of binge eating disorder (BED) and sub-clinical binge eating. METHODS 89 overweight women seeking treatment for binge eating and/or obesity were assessed with the Portuguese version of the Questionnaire of Eating and Weight Patterns and were, subsequently, interviewed with the eating disorders module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/P). Rates of binge eating disorder and sub-clinical cases of binge eating obtained with the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised were then compared to those obtained with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. RESULTS In the identification of binge eating, irrespective of the presence of all criteria for binge eating disorder the QEWP-R Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised yielded a sensitivity value of 0.88, a specificity value of 0.63 and a positive predictive value of 0.825. Rates for the identification of the full syndrome of binge eating disorder were: sensitivity value of 0.548, a specificity value of 0.8 and a positive predictive value of 0.793. CONCLUSIONS The Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised can be useful in a first-step screening procedure to identify probable cases of binge eating. It can be useful as a screening tool and as a first step of clinical assessment of patients seeking treatment for binge eating and/or obesity.

An investigation of objective and subjective types of binge eating episodes in a clinical sample of people with co-morbid obesity

BackgroundObjective binge eating episodes (OBEs) refer to binge eating on an unusually large amount of food and are the core symptom in current definitions of bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). Subjective binge eating episodes (SBEs) refer to eating on a small or moderate amount of food (that is perceived as large) and like OBEs are associated with loss of control (LOC). Reaching consensus on what is considered a large amount of food can however be problematic and it remains unclear if the size of a binge is an essential component for defining a binge eating episode. The aim of this study was to compare the eating disorder features and general psychopathology of subjects reporting OBEs with those reporting only SBEs.MethodsThis is a retrospective secondary analysis of data from 70 obese participants at the recruitment phase of a multicentre trial for BED. Individuals who answered positively to the presence of binge eating and LOC over eating had their binge eating episodes further explored by interview and self-report. Two groups, those who reported current OBEs (with or without SBEs) and those who reported current SBEs only were compared for age, gender, marital status, body mass index (BMI), indicators of LOC over eating, severity of binge-eating and associated psychopathology.ResultsThe majority of participants in both the OBE and SBE groups endorsed the experience of at least four indicators of LOC. There were no significant differences between the groups. Both groups had high levels of binge-eating severity, moderate severity of associated depressive symptoms and frequent psychiatric co-morbidity.ConclusionTreatment seeking participants with obesity who reported SBEs alone were similar to those who reported OBEs in terms of eating disorder features and general psychopathology. These findings suggest that classificatory systems of mental illnesses should consider introducing SBEs as a feature of the diagnostic criteria for binge eating and, thus, facilitate the inclusion of participants with SBEs in treatment trials.

Estudo de caso controle para avaliar o impacto do abuso sexual infantil nos transtornos alimentares

CONTEXTO: O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se antecedente de abuso sexual na infância (ASI) esta associado com transtornos alimentares na vida adulta. METODOS: Realizou-se um estudo de caso controle (N = 120) comparando mulheres com transtornos alimentares tratadas em ambulatorio universitario especializado com um grupo controle de pacientes de clinica nao psiquiatrica (ambulatorio de oftalmologia). RESULTADOS: Este estudo encontrou maior prevalencia de ASI na anorexia nervosa (AN) comparada ao grupo controle (50% versus 14,8%; OR = 5,8 IC 95% = 1,3-25,6; p < 0,05), entretanto nao identificou diferenca estatistica entre os grupos comparando com casos de bulimia nervosa (BN) (26,7% versus 27% no grupo controle; OR = 0,99; IC 95% = 0,24-4,1) e com transtorno de compulsao alimentar periodica (TCAP), apesar da maior prevalencia de ASI observada neste ultimo em relacao ao grupo controle (43,7% versus 27,3%; OR = 2,1 IC 95% = 0,5- 8,1). Considerando-se a presenca de dois ou mais episodios de ASI, observou-se tambem maior prevalencia em AN (35,7% versus 3,7% nos controles; OR = 14,4 IC 95% = 1,5-140,8; p < 0,05). CONCLUSAO: Este estudo mostrou forte associacao da anorexia nervosa com antecedentes de abuso sexual na infância.