Grant: Operating Grant

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) affects as many as 3.5% of women and 8% of obese individuals. Obesity occurs in 23.2% of Canadian women. Rates of childhood adversity (abuse, death of a loved one) are high among BED and obese women (82% and 71%), as are rates of depression in BED (49%). The social and economic cost of obesity and depression are high and well documented. Our research to date has highlighted the potential use of attachment theory, which is a model of ways people deal with emotions and relate to one another, to understand the risk factors for and treatment of BED. Our first objective is to evaluate if adult attachment among women with BED and among obese women provides a way of understanding the psychological processes that underlie and differentiate these health problems. The second objective is to assess if improvement in attachment functioning following group psychological treatment for BED explains symptom change in terms of reduced binge eating and depression. The proposed study will include: obese women with BED (n = 103), non-obese women with BED (n = 50), obese women without BED (n = 50), and normal weight women (n = 50). To assess attachment functioning we will use the gold standard procedure for assessing adult attachment states of mind, i.e., the Adult Attachment Interview. We expect that women with BED will have elevated rates of unresolved/disorganized states of mind with regard to childhood adversity compared to obese and normal weight women. We also hypothesize that change in unresolved/disorganized states will explain change in BED symptoms following group psychological treatment. Untangling the relative roles of attachment, depression, and childhood adversity in BED and obesity may lead to a more rational tailoring of treatment for these problems that affect the health and mental health of a large proportion of Canadian women.