Binge eating behaviours, depression and weight control strategies

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to explore the relationships between depressive symptoms and weight control strategies in DSM-IV eating disordered patients with binge eating behaviours. We hypothesised that weight control strategies characterised by a loss of control, such as vomiting and purging, may be clinically associated with increased levels of depression. The study population consisted of 402 consecutive outpatients: 27 with binge eating/purging anorexia nervosa (AN-BN), 213 with purging bulimia nervosa (BN-P), 73 with non-purging bulimia nervosa (BN-NP), and 89 with binge eating disorder (BED). The severity of depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and binge eating behaviours were investigated using the self-report scale for bulimic behaviours. In the sample as a whole, the severity of depression significantly correlated with the severity of binge eating behaviours, but no significant differences were found in the severity of depression by diagnostic sub-types. In order to avoid the confounding erasing effect of time, a smaller sample of patients with a short history of binge eating behaviours was further explored. Furthermore, because weight control strategies and the eating disorder diagnostic sub-types overlapped imperfectly, the patients were compared on the basis of presence or absence of strategies reflecting an active attempt to master the weight gain due to binge-ing behaviours. The patients adopting active control strategies (N=14) had significantly less severe depressive symptoms than those adopting non-active weight control strategies (N=39). Finally, the Authors discuss some hypotheses concerning the defensive role of weight control strategies and the impact of illness duration on the clinical expression of depression in eating disordered patients.