An Examination of the Relationships between Eating-Disorder Symptoms, Difficulties with Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health in People with Binge Eating Disorder.

Eating disorders, such as binge eating disorder, are commonly associated with difficulties with emotion regulation and mental-health complications. However, the relationship between eating-disorder symptoms, difficulties with emotion regulation, and mental health in people with binge eating disorder is unclear. Thus, we investigated associations between eating-disorder symptoms, difficulties with emotion regulation, and mental health in 119 adults with binge eating disorder. Participants were assessed with the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, Loss of Control over Eating Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, and the 12-Item Short Form Survey at the pre-treatment phase of a randomized controlled trial. Structural-equation-modelling path analysis was used to investigate relationships between variables. We found that (1) eating-disorder behaviors had a direct association with depression, anxiety, and stress; (2) depression, psychological stress, difficulties with emotion regulation, and eating-disorder psychopathology had a direct association with mental-health-related quality of life; and (3) eating-disorder psychopathology/behaviors and stress had a direct association with difficulties with emotion regulation. Our findings show that depression, stress, difficulties with emotion regulation, and eating-disorder psychopathology were related in important ways to mental-health complications in people with binge eating disorder.

A systematic review with meta-analyses of the relationship between recurrent binge eating and sleep parameters.

BACKGROUND: Sleep problems are known to compound the negative effects of other health issues, such as eating disorders and the associated behavior of binge eating. Previous studies suggested associations between binge eating and sleep problems, but the strength of the relationship is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review with meta-analyses examining the relationship between binge eating and sleep parameters. We searched for studies in Scopus, PubMed, and PsycInfo. The quality of evidence, including risk of bias, was assessed with adaptations of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Quasi-Experimental Studies, depending on study design. Data was synthesized as the difference in sleep between people who did or did not have binge eating. RESULTS: Thirty-one reports of studies met our eligibility criteria. Results are presented in 12 meta-analyses. In the 7 reports of studies (with 4448 participants) that assessed poor overall sleep quality, we found poorer overall sleep quality in people with binge eating compared to people without binge eating, with a standardized mean difference of 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61-0.92; P < 0.001), which is a large effect size. In addition, we found evidence that people with binge eating had significantly greater hypersomnia/daytime sleepiness (7 reports of studies with 4370 participants), insomnia (5 reports of studies with 12,733 participants), and difficulty falling asleep (3 reports of studies with 4089 participants) compared to people without binge eating, with moderate effect sizes (standardized mean differences of 0.57-0.66). CONCLUSIONS: People with binge eating exhibit poorer overall sleep quality compared to people without binge eating, and may also exhibit greater hypersomnia/daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and difficulty falling asleep. It is recommended that healthcare professionals routinely screen for poor overall sleep quality when treating people with binge eating-and address sleep difficulties when present.