title: Generic and eating disorder-specific impairment in binge eating disorder with and without overvaluation of weight or shape.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to elucidate the nature and extent of impairment in quality of life among individuals with binge eating disorder (BED) with and without the overvaluation of weight or shape ("overvaluation").
  
  
  METHODS
  Subgroups of women - probable BED with overvaluation (n = 102), probable BED without overvaluation (n = 72), obese individuals reporting no binge eating ("obese control", n = 40), and "normal weight" individuals reporting no binge eating ("healthy control," n = 40) - were recruited from a community-based sample in which individuals with eating disorder symptoms were over-represented. They were compared on measures of eating disorder psychopathology and generic and disease-specific measures of quality of life. Scores on these measures among individuals with BED receiving specialist treatment were also considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with BED and overvaluation had high levels of eating disorder psychopathology and impairment in both generic and disease-specific quality of life, comparable to those of BED patients receiving specialist treatment, and significantly higher than all other subgroups, whereas participants with BED in the absence of overvaluation did not differ from obese controls on any of these measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings provide further evidence for the need to consider reference to overvaluation among the diagnostic criteria for BED. The relative merits of the inclusion of overvaluation as a diagnostic criterion or as a diagnostic specifier for BED warrant greater consideration.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Electronic address: Carmel.Hill@anu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mond
authors.affiliation: Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.affiliation: Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodgers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: Binge eating disorder; Diagnostic criteria; Quality of life