title: Eating disorder symptoms in pregnancy: a prospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous work suggests that eating disorder symptoms diminish with pregnancy. However, little prospective study has been conducted, and little is known about pregnancy symptoms in eating disorder not otherwise specified. This research prospectively studies both eating behaviors and disordered eating cognitions in pregnant women with various eating disorder diagnoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two participants became pregnant during 4-year follow-up of 385 women with full or subthreshold anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder. Participants completed the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE) at 6-month intervals. Mixed modeling procedures were used to examine change in eating disorder cognitions, binge eating, and purging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EDE restraint, EDE shape concerns, EDE weight concerns, binge eating, and purging diminished from prepartum to intrapartum, but returned to approximately baseline levels postpartum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this longitudinal sample of women with diverse eating disorder diagnoses, eating disorder symptoms improved during pregnancy, but worsened postpartum. These results highlight pregnancy as a potential time for eating disorder interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454-1495, USA. crowx002@umn.edu
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crow
authors.forename: W Stewart
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Agras
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crosby
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halmi
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002032:Bulimia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010500:Perinatology; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies