Binge eating severity, self-concept, dieting self-efficacy and social support during treatment of binge eating disorder.
OBJECTIVE
In treatment of binge eating, measures of self-concept, eating self-efficacy, and social support were examined at 0, 6, and 18 months to determine if improvements in these variables were associated with reductions in binge eating severity.


METHODS
Obese adult females (N = 125) were treated for 6 months, with 12 months of maintenance meetings. The Binge Eating Scale (BES), Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSC), Dieter's Inventory of Eating Temptations (DIET), and a social support measure (SocSup) were used.


RESULTS
Over the first 6 months, improvements in BES were associated with improvements in the TSC and DIET. Over 18 months, improvements in BES were associated with improvements in the TSC, DIET, and SocSup.


CONCLUSIONS
Therapy for binge eating should result in improvement in self-concept and eating self-efficacy, as well as reductions in binge eating. This study showed that self-concept and eating self-efficacy were associated with improvement in binge eating severity. The association with social support did not appear until long-term follow-up. Improvement in self-concept and eating self-efficacy may be processes leading to clinical improvement in this eating disorder, or they may result from changes in binge eating.
Goodrick
G K
GK
Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Pendleton
V R
VR
Kimball
K T
KT
Carlos Poston
W S
WS
Reeves
R S
RS
Foreyt
J P
JP
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires