Self-Discrepancy and Eating Disorder Symptoms Across Eating Disorder Diagnostic Groups.
This study examined self-discrepancy, a construct of theoretical relevance to eating disorder (ED) psychopathology, across different types of EDs. Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN; n = 112), bulimia nervosa (BN; n = 72), and binge eating disorder (BED; n = 199) completed semi-structured interviews assessing specific types of self-discrepancies. Results revealed that actual:ideal (A:I) discrepancy was positively associated with AN, actual:ought (A:O) discrepancy was positively associated with BN and BED, and self-discrepancies did not differentiate BN from BED. Across diagnoses, A:O discrepancy was positively associated with severity of purging, binge eating, and global ED psychopathology. Further, there were significant interactions between diagnosis and A:O discrepancy for global ED psychopathology and between diagnosis and A:I discrepancy for binge eating and driven exercise. These results support the importance of self-discrepancy as a potential causal and maintenance variable in EDs that differentiates among different types of EDs and symptom severity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA. tmason@nrifargo.com.
Tyler B
TB
Mason
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA.
Jason M
JM
Lavender
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA.
Stephen A
SA
Wonderlich
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA.
Ross D
RD
Crosby
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA.
Scott G
SG
Engel
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Timothy J
TJ
Strauman
Department of Clinical Research, Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND, USA.
James E
JE
Mitchell
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.|The Emily Program, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Scott J
SJ
Crow
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Daniel
D
Le Grange
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Marjorie H
MH
Klein
VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center; VA HSR&D Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuEST); Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Tracey L
TL
Smith
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.|The Emily Program, St. Paul, MN, USA.
Carol B
CB
Peterson
D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis; D004435:Eating; D015444:Exercise; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011599:Psychopathology
anorexia nervosa; binge eating disorder; bulimia nervosa; eating disorders; self-discrepancy
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