Military sexual trauma, combat trauma, and disordered eating among United States veterans: An exploration of underlying mechanisms.

Military sexual trauma (MST) and combat trauma (CT) survivors experience disproportionate risk for disordered eating. A survey of MST, CT, disordered eating, trauma-related self-blame, emotion regulation challenges, body dissatisfaction, and dissociation among military personnel with a history of military-related trauma was conducted. These survey-based cross-sectional data were analyzed via parallel mediation analyses and Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA). Six parallel mediation analyses were conducted examining trauma-related self-blame, emotion regulation challenges, body dissatisfaction, and dissociation as mediators linking MST and CT, separately, with purging, restricting, and bingeing. ANCOVAs were also performed to examine differences in levels of bingeing, restriction, and purging among people exposed to MST, CT, both MST and CT, and neither. MST and CT exposure was indirectly related to bingeing via emotion regulation challenges. MST and CT was also indirectly related to both restriction and purging via emotion regulation challenges and trauma-related self-blame. Dissociation and body dissatisfaction were not significant mediators in any model. Participants endorsed high levels of disordered eating. Individuals exposed to both MST and CT reported greater bingeing, restricting, and purging than individuals exposed to either CT, MST, or neither. Findings highlight the nuanced symptoms that may increase risk for disordered eating among MST and/or CT survivors. Future treatment research should explore how addressing emotion regulation and trauma-related self-blame among individuals with MST and/or CT may help address disordered eating. Implications and future directions for this area of research are discussed.

Eating when depressed, anxious, bored, or happy: An examination in treatment-seeking adults with overweight/obesity.

Emotions that differ in valence are uniquely associated with eating. In our previous study with an online sample of adults with overweight/obesity, eating in response to depression was the type of emotional eating most closely associated with negative psychosocial correlates (Braden et al., 2018). The current study extended this research by examining associations between emotional eating types (eating in response to depression, anxiety, boredom, happiness) and psychological correlates among treatment-seeking adults. The present study was a secondary analysis of adults (N = 63; 96.8% female) with overweight/obesity and self-identified emotional eating who completed a baseline assessment for a behavioral weight loss intervention. Emotional eating in response to depression (EE-depression), anxiety/anger (EE-anxiety/anger), and boredom (EE-boredom) were assessed with the revised Emotional Eating Scale (EES-R), and positive emotional eating (EE-positive) was assessed with the positive emotions subscale of the Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ). The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Binge Eating Scale (BES), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; depressive symptoms) were also administered. Frequencies showed the most endorsed emotional eating type was EE-depression (44.4%; n = 28). Four multiple regression analyses examined associations between emotional eating (EE-depression, EE-anxiety/anger, EE-boredom, and EE-positive) and dependent variables (EDE-Q, BES, DERS, and PHQ-9). Results showed that depression was the emotional eating type most closely related to disordered eating, binge eating, and depressive symptoms. Eating in response to anxiety was closely related to emotion regulation difficulties. Positive emotional eating was related to less depressive symptoms. Exploratory analyses showed that lower levels of positive emotional eating were related to higher depressive symptoms among adults with greater emotion regulation difficulties. Researchers and clinicians may consider tailoring weight loss treatment based on unique emotions that trigger eating.

Impact of military culture and experiences on eating and weight-related behavior.

Disordered eating behaviors and obesity are becoming increasingly common among United States military personnel. However, little research has explored the role of the military environment as it may influence the development of disordered eating among personnel. The present qualitative analysis examined beliefs about how military experiences affected eating and weight-related behaviors. Military personnel who served within the last year and a year or more ago (n = 250) were recruited using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk). Data included in the present study consisted of participant responses to three open-ended questions, analyzed by means of content and thematic analysis. Analyses yielded eight themes: eating extremely quickly, strict mealtime regimens, the pressure to "make weight," food insecurity, difficulty after military, food quality/content, overeating behavior, and military superior maltreatment. The current study provides a preliminary examination of the role of the military culture and experiences in the development of unhealthy eating and weight-related behaviors and offers suggestions for future research and interventions.

On being a client with posttraumatic stress disorder: Interactions with treatment providers and institutional barriers.

Premature dropout from psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common. Little research has sought to understand perceptions of treatment and barriers to treatment in this population. This study analyzed anonymous posts among an online community of individuals with PTSD (93 forum users comprising 158 posts regarding treatment providers and 40 forum users comprising 50 posts regarding institutional barriers). Results indicated that individuals with PTSD desire greater clarity about expectations for treatment, collaboration toward treatment goals, open discussion of client-therapist boundaries, and increased validation among therapists in response to trauma disclosure. Individuals with PTSD also reported multiple systemic issues that were barriers to treatment including a lack of available services in their area, being placed on a waitlist for long periods of time, the cost of treatment as a financial burden, and poor crisis response in emergency rooms. Findings indicated areas of growth for treatment providers which will help inform future treatment studies in improving care and treatment adherence among individuals with PTSD.

Emotion regulation difficulties and impaired working memory interact to predict boredom emotional eating.

Emotional eating (EE), or eating in response to emotions, is related to depression, binge eating, and weight gain. Emotion regulation difficulties are a risk factor for EE. Working memory deficits may also be a risk factor for EE, as working memory is an important cognitive factor in emotion regulation. The current study is a secondary analysis that examined whether working memory moderated the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional eating. A college student sample completed measures of EE in response to depression, boredom, and anxiety/anger (Emotional Eating Scale), emotion regulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) and a working memory task (AOSPAN). Moderated regression analyses were conducted. Conditional moderation was observed, such that greater emotion regulation difficulties were associated with boredom EE, when working memory was one standard deviation (SD) below average. Moderation analyses were not significant when examining associations between working memory, emotion regulation difficulties, and depression and anxiety EE. Findings suggest that the correlates of boredom EE may be different than depression and anxiety/anger EE. Although the current study was cross-sectional, it is possible that individuals with poorer working memory and emotion regulation difficulties, especially in tandem, may be at increased risk for boredom EE.

Informal caregiving experiences in posttraumatic stress disorder: A content analysis of an online community.

This study explored the experiences of individuals who self-identify as providing support to a friend, family member, or significant other with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We analyzed and coded a total of 345 posts from an online support forum, with reference to 13 categories (finances, life interference, venting/emotional expression, maltreatment, sexual behavior, distress, prevented expression, physical health, communication, no personal space, isolation, and compassion fatigue). Categories for coding were established a priori and based on previous literature about caregiving and supporting. Results suggested that informal PTSD caregivers experience concerns involving interpersonal relations, emotional turmoil, and barriers to care for themselves and the individual they are caring for. This study provides a preliminary examination of the experiences and concerns of PTSD caregivers. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Short-changing the future: The systemic gap between psychology internship stipends and living wages.

Introduction: Providing doctoral internship stipends below living wages may harm interns, the clinical services they provide, and the field of health service psychology as a whole. This study evaluated the extent to which doctoral psychology internship stipends from the 2021-2022 training year for APA-accredited, APPIC-member programs in the US are consistent with living wages in the geographic region where sites are located. Methods: We obtained data reflecting internship sites' geographic location and stipends for the 2021-2022 academic year. Using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator, we computed a living wage for the county in which each internship site is located. Descriptive statistics, discrepancies, ratios, and correlations were calculated to reflect the associations between internship sites' stipends and their local living wages. Results: The average internship stipend was $31,783, which was lower than the average living wage by $2,091. Stipends ranged widely, from a low of $15,000 to a high of $94,595-reflecting a six-fold difference in wages. Although internship sites in higher cost of living areas paid higher stipends, over two-thirds (67.0%) of sites did not pay a stipend that equaled or exceeded a living wage. Ninety-eight sites (15.3%) had deficits of over $10,000 when comparing their stipends to local living wages, with $33,240 as the highest deficit. Discussion: Eliminating obstacles to educating health service psychologists by decreasing the financial burden of training will likely have subsequent critical benefits towards bridging the workforce gap between mental healthcare service needs and available providers, ultimately leading to improved population health.

Obesity and In Vitro Fertilization.

Obesity is a highly prevalent chronic disease with a significant effect on reproductive-age women. The clinical implications of obesity on fertility and pregnancy are well studied citing ovulatory dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, higher miscarriage rates, and increased maternal and neonatal risks. For this reason, many patients with obesity seek reproductive specialists to help build their families. Despite this literature base, the effect of weight loss interventions prior to assisted reproductive technology (ART) is lacking. This review aims to outline the impact of obesity on ART, specifically in vitro fertilization (IVF). Response differences to treatment protocols compared with normal weight counterparts, limitations of access to care, and the mixed results of weight-reduction strategies prior to fertility treatment will be addressed. The known data surrounding benefits of lifestyle modification, pharmacologic therapies, and surgical interventions for obesity prior to IVF are outlined and found to emphasize a need for further research to determine the optimal approach for infertility patients with obesity.