Relation of binge eating age of onset to functional aspects of binge eating in binge eating disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined whether age of binge eating onset in binge eating disorder (BED) is related to affective binge eating antecedents and consequences.


METHODS
Participants included women (N = 44) with BED who participated in a group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) study. Measures included the Eating Hedonics Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Negative Emotionality factor, Restraint Scale, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Restraint factor, and Eating Behaviors-IV. Participants were classified according to reported age of binge eating onset, with early onset defined as </=13 years (EOB; n = 25) and later onset >13 years (LOB; n = 19).


RESULTS
Compared with LOB, EOB was associated with reductions in postbinge subjective anxiety, but not depression.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggested that EOB in BED may be associated with binge eating as an affective means of coping, particularly with anxiety, and further supported age of binge eating onset as a clinically meaningful way to delineate BED subclassifications.
Binford
Roslyn B
RB
Eating Disorders Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. rbinford@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu
Pederson Mussell
Melissa
M
Peterson
Carol B
CB
Crow
Scott J
SJ
Mitchell
James E
JE
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D017668:Age of Onset; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires