Evaluation of alexithymia and depression in severe obese patients not affected by eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the different aspects of the construct of alexithymia in a group of severe obese patients not affected by eating disorders. Moreover, we tested if in the same patients there was a relationship between alexithymic traits and depressive symptoms. METHOD: Forty-nine severe obese patients were evaluated through the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The results were compared with those of a normal weight control group. RESULTS: Obese patients were less able than control subjects in recognizing and labeling their own emotions. This deficit was positively associated with depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that severe obese patients have more difficulties in recognizing their emotions and have more depressive symptoms than control subjects have.

Eyes are bigger than the stomach: correlation between body mass index, satiety, and prediction of satiety.

We investigated if among adult subjects there is any correlation between body mass index (BMI), evaluation of current satiety after a standard meal and predicted satiety hypothesizing to have a second helping of the same food. One hundred and twenty-eight adult subjects randomly recruited during a village festival were included into the study; 20 were underweight, 74 normal weight and 34 overweight. Just after eating a highly caloric bean-soup, they were requested to evaluate current satiety and to predict their satiety before having a second helping of the same food they had just eaten to find out if there was any correlation between BMI and the evaluations. There was a significant negative correlation between participants' BMI and predicted satiety, no correlation was found between BMI and current satiety. The outcomes of the study give suggestions for prevention and treatment of overweight patients.

The influence of stress on the relationship between cognitive variables and measures of eating disorders (in healthy female university students): a quasi-experimental study.

OBJECTIVE: Perfectionism, poor self-esteem and stress have all been described as important risk factors for eating disorders. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a stressful situation is significantly correlated to and associated with significantly higher levels of perfectionism, stress, quantifiable measures of eating disorders, and with significantly lower levels of self-esteem in a non-clinical sample. METHOD: Thirty-five female university students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Eating Disorder Inventory two times; once on an average university day and once on the day of an exam. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were calculated to verify whether a stressful situation was associated with a significant difference in levels of perfectionism, self-esteem, stress, and measures of eating disorders. Bivariate correlations were calculated for both the stress and non-stress situation, to observe how the dimensions of perfectionism, self-esteem, and stress were associated with measures of eating disorders. RESULTS: During the stress situation, the study participants had, on average, significantly higher levels of concern over mistakes, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and perceived stress. Bivariate correlations revealed that during the stress situation perceived stress, cognitive variables and measures of eating disorders showed significant correlations with each other that were absent in the non stress situation. DISCUSSION: The results of the present study suggest that the dimensions of pathological perfectionism, low self-esteem, and perceived stress are related to an increase in dieting thoughts and dissatisfaction with body aspect in non-clinical women during a performance that could potentially challenge the perception of their self-esteem. The stressful situation can be interpreted as an experience of invalidation, which could explain the connection between cognitive constructs and behaviours related to eating disorders.

Psychopathology and treatment of night eating syndrome: a review.

The article reviews the international literature about psychopathological aspects and treatments of Night Eating Syndrome (NES). Studies were found using Medline; data from recent international books and conferences about ED are included, but single case descriptions are not included in the study. NES seems to be consistently related to mood disorders and anxiety. There is a low overlap between other eating disorders, including binge eating disorder (BED), and NES. The relationship between the syndrome and substance abuse is unclear and needs further study. Sleep architecture seems not to be severely altered among those with NES. A limited number of treatment studies for NES have been published or presented. Most of the literature focuses on pharmacological treatment, with fewer psychotherapeutic approaches reported at this time. Larger, multi-site treatment studies would serve to confirm the findings of this first wave of clinical trials.