Functional gastrointestinal symptoms and increased risk for orthorexia nervosa.

PURPOSE: Recent guidelines point out the possible risk for orthorexia nervosa in functional gastrointestinal disorders, however, to date, no study has investigated this association. The present study aimed to explore the potential relationship between irritable bowel syndrome-related functional gastrointestinal symptoms and certain maladaptive eating behaviours, such as symptoms of orthorexia nervosa and emotional eating. METHODS: A sample of 644 Hungarian volunteers (Mage = 22.37; SDage = 3.95) completed a survey with the following questionnaires: the Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire (R4DQ) for adults-Irritable bowel syndrome module for the measurement of functional gastrointestinal symptoms, the Hungarian version of the ORTO-15 questionnaire (ORTO-11-Hu) to assess symptoms of orthorexia nervosa, the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) Emotional Eating subscale to measure symptoms of emotional eating and the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) for the assessment of health anxiety. Spearman's rank correlation was used to explore the associations between the measured variables, and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed mediation models. RESULTS: Functional gastrointestinal symptoms were positively related to symptoms of orthorexia nervosa and emotional eating. The relationship between functional gastrointestinal symptoms and symptoms of orthorexia nervosa was partially mediated by health anxiety, while the association between functional gastrointestinal symptoms and symptoms of emotional eating was partially mediated by symptoms of orthorexia nervosa. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the possible risk for developing orthorexic symptoms in functional gastrointestinal symptoms, which could lead to other types of disordered eating patterns, such as emotional eating. The results also underscore the potential role of health anxiety in these relationships. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V (descriptive cross-sectional study).

Intuitive eating in light of other eating styles and motives: Experiences with construct validity and the Hungarian adaptation of the Intuitive Eating Scale-2.

Intuitive eating (IE), an adaptive eating approach, has been identified as a plausible positive determinant of physical and mental well-being. This cross-sectional survey study aimed to examine the construct validity of IE measured by the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2). The conceptual network of different adaptive and maladaptive eating behaviors was also explored. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), measurement invariance testing, and correlation analyses were applied on the data from a sample of 732 Hungarian university students. Validating variables included several eating behavior styles (i.e., obesogenic eating behaviors, mindful eating [ME], and dieting practices) and motivational factors (i.e., autonomous, controlled, and amotivational sources of healthy eating, and internalization of the thin and muscular body ideals). The results of the CFA supported the original four-factor structure of the IES-2 without a global second-order factor. The scale exhibited measurement invariance on the scalar level across sexes and BMI categories. The IES-2 subscales showed adequate reliability. IE and ME were found to be positively related but conceptually distinct constructs. Autonomous motivation for healthy eating, restrained eating, and current dieting exhibited different yet meaningful associations to IE on the subscale level. Undertaking subscale-level analyses is recommended when using the IES-2.

The associations between orthorexia nervosa and the sociocultural attitudes: the mediating role of basic psychological needs and health anxiety.

PURPOSE: Given the range of negative correlates associated with orthorexia nervosa (ON), it is important to identify factors that might contribute to the elevated ON tendencies. Based on the tripartite model of influence, we tested whether sociocultural attitudes towards appearance (i.e., thin and muscular internalization as well as family, peer and media pressure) could contribute to ON. We hypothesized that these attitudes could exert their effect through the intervening processes basic psychological need fulfillment and health anxiety. METHODS: The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 710 young adults (Mage = 21.79, SDage = 2.31). Participants completed validated questionnaires measuring the constructs of interest. RESULTS: According to the structural equation modeling results, ON was predicted by thinness and muscular internalization as well as media pressure. Need fulfillment and health anxiety partially mediated these relationships. Family and peer pressure were not related to ON. DISCUSSION: The present results suggest that internalization of appearance ideas and media pressure contribute to ON through need fulfillment and health anxiety. These findings also provide novel insight into the nature of ON. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V (descriptive cross-sectional study.

The association of different interoceptive dimensions with functional gastrointestinal symptoms.

The aim of the current cross-sectional studies was to investigate the association of interoceptive dimensions with irritable bowel syndrome-related functional gastrointestinal symptoms using a multimethod approach. Two studies were conducted in Hungarian volunteers. Study 1 involved questionnaires regarding interoceptive sensibility. In Study 2, an experimental task was additionally used for the measurement of interoceptive accuracy.Reporters of high functional gastrointestinal symptoms were characterised by an increased perception of different somatic sensations together with a reduced trust in bodily signals. Our results support the hypothesis that there are interactions between interoceptive dimensions in the production of functional somatic symptoms. A data accessibility statement is included.

[Irritable bowel syndrome: comorbid psychiatric disorders and psychological treatment options]. / Irritábilisbél-szindróma: komorbid pszichiátriai zavarok és pszichológiai kezelési lehetoségek.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder with a prevalence of 7-21%. It has a negative impact on health-related quality of life and work productivity and it is associated with increased psychological distress and mental comorbidity, like major depression disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. Due to biopsychosocial factors and the brain-gut axis playing a key role in the aetiology of the disease, the use of psychological treatments has great importance in the therapy of irritable bowel syndrome. These interventions focus on central mechanisms, like visceral sensitivity, pain amplification, hypervigilance and gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety. They significantly reduce damaging illness-related cognitions, the use of maladaptive coping strategies, catastrophic appraisals of bodily sensations and chronic muscle tension. The utilization of these treatments is associated with clinically significant symptom improvement and positive mental health outcomes. This review study focuses on the psychiatric comorbidity of irritable bowel syndrome and the use of evidence-based psychological therapies in the treatment of the disease. Using ScienceDirect and PubMed databases, almost 60 studies have been selected. A high number of studies investigate the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy and hypnotherapy with meta-analyses included. There is also growing evidence on the beneficial impacts of mindfulness-based stress reduction. Future research will need to concentrate on studying the utility of mind-body therapies such as relaxation techniques in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with meta-analyses on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(50): 2115-21121.