Self-mutilative behavior in adolescents who attempt suicide by overdose.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cognitive/affective and behavioral symptoms of adolescent suicide attempters with self-mutilative behavior (SMB). METHOD: Adolescents evaluated after a suicide attempt that occurred between 1996 and 2000 were divided into two groups: suicide attempters with a history of SMB (n = 52) and suicide attempters without SMB (n = 43). The groups were then compared on psychiatric diagnosis, suicide intent, depression, hopelessness, loneliness, anger, reckless behavior, substance use, and family functioning. RESULTS: Carving on the skin and picking at a wound were the most commonly reported SMBs, occurring in about one third of the sample. The SMB group was significantly more likely to be diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, major depression, and dysthymia and had higher scores on measures of hopelessness, loneliness, anger, risk taking, reckless behavior, and alcohol use than did the non-SMB group. Loneliness increased the odds of SMB almost 6-fold. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent suicide attempts with SMB are associated with greater cognitive/affective and behavioral symptoms. Adolescent suicide attempters should be routinely screened for SMB.

Mood and forbidden foods' influence on perceptions of binge eating.

This study consists of two experiments investigating the effects of induced mood and food type on perceptions of eating in imagined and real eating situations. A total of 212 female undergraduates representing the continuum of bulimic symptomatology were induced with either elated or depressed moods using a standardized mood-induction procedure. They were then either asked to imagine themselves in a situation with either forbidden or non-forbidden foods (Experiment 1) or else were presented with a buffet of forbidden or non-forbidden foods and asked to eat (Experiment 2). Participants subsequently reported their perception of their eating behavior (i.e., amount of control, meal rating: from a snack to a binge; and meal feeling: from great to bad). Results revealed limited support for affect regulation models of bulimia nervosa when the participants consumed food, but no support for the theory when they imagined eating. Conversely, forbidden foods were found to influence perceptions in the imagined eating situation, but not when the participants ate. Implications of these results are discussed.

Eating behavior of bulimics, self-identified binge eaters, and non-eating-disordered individuals: what differentiates these populations?

This article reviews and critiques the eating behavior literature comparing the binge and non-binge-eating episodes of three populations of normal-weight women: bulimics, self-identified binge eaters, and non-eating-disordered women. The specific behaviors evaluated are number of calories consumed during different types of eating episodes, frequency of binge eating, number of eating episodes, rate of food consumption, the macronutrient composition of the food ingested, and context and duration of eating. Differences in these populations' eating behavior are analyzed in terms of their theoretical contribution. It is concluded that differences in the observed behavior of these groups are consistent with restraint theory, purge opportunity, and the forbidden foods hypothesis. Conversely, results do not support carbohydrate craving theory or a deficit in the satiety mechanisms of bulimics. Suggestions for future research are presented.