Loss of control over eating is associated with eating disorder psychopathology in a community sample of Latinas

doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2008.04.003

Eating Behaviors

Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2008, Pages 501-503

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2008.04.003 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined the association between loss of control and eating disorder psychopathology in a community sample of women of Hispanic origin. Seventy-seven monolingual Spanish-speaking Latinas recruited from the community were administered the Spanish language version of the Eating Disorders Examination (S-EDE). Latinas who reported regular (at least once weekly) loss of control—through objective bulimic episodes (OBEs) and/or subjective bulimic episodes (SBEs)—were compared with Latinas who did not report regular loss of control. Latinas who reported LOC did not differ significantly from Latinas who denied LOC in age, current body mass index, or highest adult weight. Latinas who reported LOC had significantly more frequent weight cycling and significantly higher scores on all S-EDE subscales. The findings suggest that regular loss of control over eating—regardless of the amount of food consumed—may be a marker for the presence of eating disorder psychopathology.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 77 monolingual (Spanish-speaking-only) women of Hispanic origin (diverse backgrounds of Spanish-speaking countries) who responded to advertisements. Mean age was 41.5 years (SD = 13.6) and mean BMI was 29.1 (SD = 5.9).

Procedures and measures

Flyers written in Spanish were posted in an urban setting. The flyers invited Latinas at least 18 years of age to participate in a study of eating and health and offered $50 compensation. IRB approval was obtained and participants provided written informed consent in

Results

Sixteen (21%) of the 77 participants reported regular LOC episodes on the S-EDE. Four participants reported regular OBEs but not regular SBEs, ten reported regular SBEs but not regular OBEs, and two reported regular SBEs and OBEs. Independent t-tests were used to compare individuals who reported regular (i.e., frequency of at least weekly (White, Masheb, Rothschild, Burke-Martindale, & Grilo, 2006)) LOC episodes (OBEs and/or SBEs) and those who did not. As shown in Table 1, the two groups did

Discussion

Roughly 21% of a community sample of Latinas reported experiencing loss of control over eating at least once weekly. Although no differences existed in current BMI between Latinas who reported versus denied LOC, those who reported LOC had significantly more frequent weight cycling and higher scores on all S-EDE subscales. The findings for Latinas extend those recently reported for various community and clinical groups (Keel et al., 2005, Latner et al., 2007) suggesting that regular loss of

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants: DK66555S (Elder) and DK49587, DK49587S, K24 DK070052 awarded to Grilo, and by the Donaghue Research Foundation (Grilo).

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Loss of control over eating is associated with eating disorder psychopathology in a community sample of Latinas

Abstract

Section snippets

Participants

Procedures and measures

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Eating Behaviors

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Eating Behaviors

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

Application of cultural constructs in the care of first generation Latina/o clients in a community mental health setting

Journal of Psychiatric Practice

The Eating Disorder Examination

Inter-rater and test–retest reliability of the Spanish Language Version of the Eating Disorder Examination Interview: Clinical and research implications

Journal of Psychiatric Practice