title: An exploratory investigation of purging disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Purging Disorder (PD) is an understudied pattern of behaviors within the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) category. Such categorization may suggest that PD is not clinically significant as other eating disorders. However, evidence has suggested that PD is associated with significant impairments in psychosocial functioning and well-being. Despite the apparent clinical significance of PD, it remains to be determined if PD is distinct from other clinically significant eating disorders. The present study sought to assess the phenomenology, clinical significance, and distinctiveness of PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Group scores on measures of eating pathology, body image disturbance, and psychological correlates were compared using MANOVA among a female undergraduate sample (N=94) meeting diagnostic criteria for PD (n=20), Bulimia Nervosa (BN; n=35), restrained eating (n=18), and healthy controls (n=21).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, results indicated the PD group reported less severe symptoms than BN but more severe symptoms than controls. The PD and restraint groups were similar on most variables (including subjective binge behavior), with the exception of perfectionism and hunger.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings support the conceptualization of PD as existing along a spectrum of bulimic spectrum disorders rather than as a distinct diagnostic category.
authors.affiliation: Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA. ksmit107@kent.edu
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Janis H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Crowther
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult