title: Seasonal mood patterns in eating disorders.
abstract: There has been an increasing body of research literature suggesting a seasonal pattern of mood fluctuations and eating behavior in bulimic patients. Fornari et al. [5] reported worsening of bulimic symptoms during winter. There is a logical connection between Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and bulimia nervosa as both show increased appetite and carbohydrate craving and probably share a common neurobiologic abnormality such as serotonergic dysfunction. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of SAD in a sample of 259 consecutively evaluated outpatients admitted to an eating disorders clinic (254 women and 5 men). Eating disorder diagnosis was established on the basis of DSM-III-R criteria, and a modified version of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was used to determine seasonality among patients. The sample was comprised of the following: 53.7% bulimics, 27.4% anorexics, 15.1% were classified as having an eating disorder not otherwise specified, and 3.9% had a diagnosis other than an eating disorder. The results indicated that 27.0% of the eating disorder patients met criteria for SAD. Of this group, 86 (71.4%) were bulimic, 35 (18.6%) were anorexic, and 20 (10.0%) were nonspecified. Details and additional findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ghadirian
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jabalpurwala
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steiger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000855:Anorexia / Q000150:complications; D002032:Bulimia / Q000150:complications; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012621:Seasons