title: Disordered eating behavior and mental health correlates among treatment seeking obese women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous research has suggest that obesity is associated with increased risk for psychopathological disorders, however, little is known about which obese patients are most vulnerable to psychopathological disorders. We therefore investigated 126 treatment-seeking obese women to describe eating disorder pathology and mental health correlates, and to identify disordered eating behaviors that may place obese at increased risk for psychopathological disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) was used to identify Eating Disorders (ED). A battery of psychological tests, including the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (ASQ,) Clinical Depression Questionnaire (CDQ), Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) scales and structured clinical interview were administered to all the patients. We analyzed the link between psychopathological disorders and eating attitudes by using both multiple regression analysis and non-parametric correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Disordered eating behaviors and emotional behavioral aspects related to Anorexia Nervosa, such as ineffectiveness, are strongly linked to the depression and anxiety in obese subjects. No correlation was found between psychopathological disorders and age or anthropometric measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings corroborate earlier work indicating that psychological distress is elevated in obese treatment seeking, bolstering the need for mental health assessment of such individuals. The feeling of ineffectiveness constitutes the major predictor of psychopathological aspects. This is an important result which may inform the development of effective interventions for obese patients and prevention of psychopathological disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit on Obesity and Eating Disorders, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aquilano
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Psychiatry Unit, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Fazio
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Psychiatry Unit, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Segura-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit on Obesity and Eating Disorders, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Psychology Unit, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit on Obesity and Eating Disorders, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lo Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit on Obesity and Eating Disorders, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vendemiale
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bellomo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000453:epidemiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Anxiety; Depression obesity; Dieting; Eating behaviors; Eating disorders