scholarly journals Narrative and Bodily Identity in Eating Disorders: Toward an Integrated Theoretical-Clinical Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Antonella Pellegrini ◽  
Sarah Finzi ◽  
Fabio Veglia ◽  
Giulia Di Fini
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Clinical Approach ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Primary Relationships ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Embodied Self

Eating disorders (EDs) can be viewed as “embodied acts” that help to cope with internal and external demands that are perceived as overwhelming. The maintenance of EDs affects the entire identity of the person; the lack of a defined; or valid sense of self is expressed in terms of both physical body and personal identity. According to attachment theory, primary relationships characterized by insecurity, traumatic experiences, poor mirroring, and emotional attunement lead to the development of dysfunctional regulatory strategies. Although the literature shows an association between attachment style or states of mind, trauma, behavioral strategies, and various EDs, the debate is still ongoing and the results are still conflicting. Therefore, we believe it is important to examine and treat EDs by understanding which narrative trajectory intercepts distress in relation to narrative and embodied self-concept. Drawing on clinical observation and a narrative review of the literature, we focus on the construction and organization of bodily and narrative identity. Because bodily representations are the primary tools for generating meaning, organizing experience, and shaping social identity from the earliest stages of life, we focus on the role that bodily interactions and sensorimotor and proprioceptive patterns have played in the development of EDs. We consider the role that lack of attunement, insecure attachment, and relational trauma play in mentalizing, affecting self-representation and emotion regulation strategies. The paper also considers a semantic mode of trauma in EDs that involves a top-down pathway through beliefs and narratives about oneself based on lack of amiability, on devaluation, and on humiliation memories. Finally, we would like to highlight the proposal of an integrated model with multiple access model to psychotherapy that takes into account the complexity of ED patients in whom aspects related to dysregulation, body image disintegration, and post-traumatic symptoms are associated with a suffering sense of self and a retraumatizing narrative.

scholarly journals Measurement of Behavioral Emotion Regulation Strategies in Early Childhood: The Early Emotion Regulation Behavior Questionnaire (EERBQ)

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 779
Author(s):  
Nicole B. Perry ◽  
Jessica M. Dollar
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Behavioral Regulation ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Children's Emotion ◽  
Regulation Strategies

The Early Emotion Regulation Behavior Questionnaire (EERBQ) assesses children’s emotion regulation (ER) behavioral strategies in both positive and negative emotional contexts. Psychometric properties and factor structure were tested in a sample of caregivers across the United States (N = 362) with children ages 2–6 years-old (56% male; 73% White). Findings suggest that the EERBQ is psychometrically sound and correlates with other well-established measures of children’s socioemotional functioning. Previously, researchers have only been able to assess children’s emotional behavioral regulatory strategies in a laboratory setting. Thus, use of the EERBQ addresses a critical gap in the current literature by providing researchers and practitioners with an instrument to measure young children’s early emotional functioning outside of a laboratory context. This is particularly salient because early difficulty regulating emotions is often a precursor to persistent adverse developmental outcomes. Thus, the ability to easily to collect rich and predictive behavioral regulation data is imperative for early identification and treatment of youths’ emotional and behavioral problems.

Interoception and Its Role for Eating, Obesity, and Eating Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 188-205
Author(s):  
Beate M. Herbert
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Eating Behavior ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Disordered Eating Behavior ◽  
Embodied Self ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. The importance of the sense of ourselves from within for understanding adaptive behavior and psychopathology has been increasingly recognized during the last decades. Interoception builds the foundation of our embodied self and dysfunctional interoception lies at the core of many psychosomatic disorders. Eating is fundamental for survival with consequences for health and well-being. It is deeply grounded in homoeostatic and allostatic psychophysiological needs and is driven by interoceptive signals of the body. This narrative review summarizes a selection of empirical findings and draws conclusions on the role of interoception in eating behavior, body weight, and eating disorders. Beyond disordered eating behavior, eating disorders are characterized by impairment of the sense of self, with dysfunctional interoception at its core. Predictive coding accounts are addressed to integrate conclusions and to underline the relevance of interventions to modify interoception.

scholarly journals Associations between use of self-regulatory strategies and daily eating patterns: An experience sampling study in college-aged women

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Lopez ◽  
Danielle Cosme ◽  
Kaitlyn M. Werner ◽  
Blair Saunders ◽  
Wilhelm Hofmann
Keyword(s):  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Eating Patterns ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Adaptive Use ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment ◽  
Food Consumed

AbstractPrevious theorizing suggests there are multiple means by which people regulate their emotions and impulses, but that these strategies vary in the degree to which they support goal attainment. Some have proposed that proactive strategies (e.g. situation selection, distraction) may be particularly effective, while interventive strategies (e.g. suppression) are less effective. Despite these diverging predictions, researchers have yet to examine spontaneous use of these strategies and their respective and combined efficacy when applied to momentary food desires experienced in daily life. In the present study, we assessed eating patterns for one week via ecological momentary assessment in college-aged women (N = 106). Results from pre-registered analyses indicated that using a variety of strategies, including preventative strategies such as situation selection and distraction, was associated with greater self-control success, as indexed by weaker desires, higher resistance, lower likelihood of enacting desires, and less food consumed. A similar pattern was observed when participants implemented additional strategies during desire episodes, which they were more likely to do when their desires conflicted with other self-regulatory goals. All associations were observed while controlling for momentary hunger levels, dieting status, age, and body mass index. These findings are consistent with a growing body of work assessing people’s spontaneous use of emotion regulation strategies in everyday contexts, suggesting potential meta-motivational tendencies marked by flexible and adaptive use of self-regulatory strategies.

Severity of traumatic events in patients with eating disorders. A case-control study

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S165-S166
Author(s):  
A.M. Pignatelli ◽  
C. Loriedo ◽  
M. Biondi ◽  
P. Girardi ◽  
J. Vanderlinden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Emotional Neglect ◽  
Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Age Range

IntroductionA high proportion of individuals with eating disorders (EDs) report childhood abuse and neglect. The prevalence of traumatic events in ED patients has been extensively investigated; less is known about their self-perceived–and reported–severity. Objectives/Aims: We aimed to assess in ED patients vs. healthy controls the severity, i.e., duration, perpetrator, and subjective impact, of sexual, physical, and emotional traumas suffered from 0 to 18 years, paying particular attention to emotional neglect.MethodsFifty-seven consecutive DSM-V ED patients (91.2% females; age range: 18–42 years) were recruited at the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic of our University Hospital. Ninety controls (78.9% females; age range: 20–39 years) were also recruited. Among ED patients, 43.9% had restrictive anorexia nervosa (AN), 29.8% binge/purging AN, 26.3% bulimia nervosa. Individuals completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC).ResultsThe severity of all traumatic events, according to the TEC total score, was significantly higher in ED patients than controls (P < 0.001). Moreover, ED patients showed significantly higher scores with regard to emotional neglect (P < 0.001) and emotional abuse (P < 0.001). The same can be said for physical traumas (P < 0.01) and physical abuse (P < 0.01), although with a lower significance, and for sexual abuse (P < 0.05), with an even lower significance. No difference in the severity of sexual harassment was found.ConclusionsAll types of traumas, especially neglect, can occur in ED patients and controls, however they are reported as more severe by ED patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Emotion Regulation Strategy Choices Following Aversive Self-Awareness in People Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury or Indirect Self-Injury

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Evanna Boccagno ◽  
Jill M. Hooley
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Memory Recall ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Self Injury ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategy ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Emotion regulation difficulties are implicated prominently in self-injury. Yet it is unclear how people who engage in different forms of self-injury attempt to regulate negative affect when multiple strategies are available to them. This laboratory-based study examined emotion regulation strategy choices in individuals who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (n=40), indirect forms of self-injury (disordered eating and substance abuse; n=46), and controls (n=48). Following a self-relevant stressor (negative autobiographical memory recall), participants selected one of six regulation strategies based on what they believed would most effectively alter their affect. Strategies spanned behavioral (physical pain, a snack, word activity) and non-behavioral (rumination, reappraisal, doing nothing) domains. Compared to controls, individuals who engage in NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely to select behavioral strategies. In addition, those with NSSI and indirect self-injury were more likely than controls to choose physical pain and less likely to ruminate. Findings indicate that people with direct and indirect forms of self-injury alike are more likely to take action than to engage in further thought when experiencing aversive self-awareness, even when cognitive strategies are made salient. Results illuminate intervention targets for these clinical populations.

scholarly journals Child Trauma Experiences and Dissociative Symptoms in Women with Eating Disorders: Case-Control Study

Children ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
María F. Rabito-Alcón ◽  
José I. Baile ◽  
Johan Vanderlinden
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Child Trauma ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Somatoform Dissociation ◽  
Dissociative Experiences ◽  
Dissociative Symptoms ◽  
Control Study

Background: many people with different diagnoses, including eating disorders, have suffered traumatic experiences in childhood. Method: a case-control study was performed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of child trauma and dissociative symptoms in people with eating disorders and compare the results obtained with a control group. Participants were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders (SCID-II) to confirm diagnostic criteria and explore possible comorbidities. Traumatic experiences in childhood were evaluated with the Child Trauma Questionnaire in its abbreviated version (CTQ-SF), psychoform dissociation was measured with the Scale of Dissociative Experiences (DES-II) and somatoform dissociation with the Somatoform Dissociation Scale (SDQ-20). Results: women with eating disorders reported a greater severity and higher prevalence of child trauma than the control group. Significant differences were found by groups in dissociative symptoms. Conclusions: our results, in a Spanish sample, confirm the findings of previous studies.

Eating disorders and sense of self: A learning theory conceptualization

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 45-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Wood ◽  
Judith A. Dygdon ◽  
Anthony J. Conger
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Sense Of Self

Gender literacy: enhancing female self-concept and contributing to the prevention of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders

2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Alpert Sigall ◽  
Mary Strouse Pabst
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Body Dissatisfaction ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Female Self ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Troubles Alimentaires ◽  
And Gender

English This article examines the effect of gender inequity in education and gender identity development on self-concept, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in females and considers the potential impact of the limited access to information about women's lives, history and contributions, and the concomitant focus on culturally defined attractiveness as a basis for self-worth for females. The authors propose a Corrective Education Model to facilitate the achievement of 'gender literacy': an awareness and understanding of those gender-related issues that affect the context and possibilities of girls' and women's lives. The object of this work is to help women and girls feel more powerful and enhance their sense of self beyond the limits of their body size and shape. French Cette étude examine l'impact de l'inégalité des sexes dans l'éducation, de même que l'incidence du développement de l'identité sexuelle sur l'idée de soi, le rejet de son propre corps, et les troubles alimentaires. Elle analyse aussi les conséquences éventuelles de l'accès limité à l'information sur la vie, l'histoire et l'apport des femmes, ainsi que l'importance accordée à l'étalon culturel de la beauté, étalon à l'aune duquel la femme mesure sa propre valeur. Les auteurs proposent un modèle orthopédagogique pour faciliter l'éveil des femmes à leur identité sexuelle: une prise de conscience et une compréhension de la dynamique sexuelle qui influe sur le milieu de vie des femmes et des filles et sur les possibilités qui leur sont offertes. L'objectif de ce travail est d'amener femmes et filles à prendre conscience de leur capacité accrue d'améliorer l'idée qu'elles ont d'elles-mêmes, indépendamment des contraintes de corps, de taille et de forme.

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