title: Overvaluation of body shape/weight and engagement in non-compensatory weight-control behaviors in eating disorders: is there a reciprocal relationship?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overvaluation of body shape/weight is thought to be the core psychopathology underlying eating disorders, which propels engagement in non-compensatory weight-control behaviors. In turn, these behaviors lead to binge eating and/or maintenance of low weight thereby reinforcing overvaluation. The present study investigated the reciprocal relationship between overvaluation and engagement in non-compensatory weight-control behaviors (defined in two ways: restrictive eating and compulsive exercise) among women diagnosed with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (N = 237).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed clinical interviews in which weekly eating disorder symptoms and behaviors were assessed over 2 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overvaluation on a given week was associated with greater engagement in non-compensatory weight-control behaviors during the following week. Further, engagement in non-compensatory weight-control behaviors on a given week was associated with greater overvaluation during the following week. These findings held true regardless of participants' shape/weight concerns (feelings of fatness and fat phobia), and eating disorder diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data provide empirical support for key aspects of the transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral model of eating disorders and suggest that targeting non-compensatory weight-control behaviors in treatment may help alleviate overvaluation and shape/weight concerns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Massachusetts General Hospital Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tabri
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Massachusetts General Hospital Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Massachusetts General Hospital Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Massachusetts General Hospital Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Franko
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Harvard Medical School,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry,Massachusetts General Hospital Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program,Boston,MA,USA.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Eddy
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010045:Outpatients; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; body image; bulimia nervosa; cognitive-behavioral therapy; eating disorders