Basic HTML Version
EDRS 2012
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36
CORTISOL REACTIVITY AND DISTRESS-INDUCED
EMOTIONAL EATING
Tatjana van Strien, Karin Roelofs, Carolina de Weerth
Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Introduction. Animal studies suggest a relationship between
blunted HPA-axis stress-reactivity and increased stress-
induced food-intake in chronically stressed animals.
Such relationship can potentially explain the underlying
mechanisms of emotional eating in humans. However, no
studies have experimentally tested the relationship between
stress-induced cortisol responses and acute food intake in
high and low emotional eaters. Method. These effects were
studied in 46 female students that were preselected on
the basis of extremely high (HEE) or low (LEE) scores on
an emotional eating questionnaire. Using a within subject
design actual food intake was measured after a control or a
stress task (Trier Social Stress Test). Results. The HEE and
LEE groups did not differ in their cortisol stress reactivity but
emotional eating significantly moderated the relationship
between cortisol stress reactivity and food intake after
distress. Whereas HEE participants with a blunted cortisol
stress response ate more food after distress than those
with an elevated cortisol stress response, LEE participants
showed no such relationship. Conclusion. These findings
support the relevance of an animal based model on the
relationship between blunted cortisol stress-responses and
increased food-intake for human high emotional eaters.
37
Comparing Work Productivity in Obesity and
Binge Eating
Ruth H Striegel
1
, Richard Bedrosian
2
, Chun Wang
2
1
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA,
2
Wellness &
Prevention, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Burden-of-illness studies in obesity have yet to focus on an
important subgroup: individuals who report binge eating.
The present study compared work productivity impairment
in an employee sample that was classified into four groups
based on obesity and current binge eating. 117,272
employees completed a voluntary health risk appraisal
survey and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment
(WPAI) questionnaire via their work place or health plan.
Gender stratified analyses compared groups on four WPAI
subscale scores (adjusted for the demographic variables and
depression). In men and women, overall group differences
were significant for all subscales. All post-hoc comparisons
were significant on total productivity impairment and
presenteeism, indicating lowest impairment in nonobese men
without binge eating (group 1, n = 34,090), higher levels in
obese men without binge eating (group 2, n = 15,570), yet
higher levels in nonobese men with binge eating (group 3, n
= 1,381) and highest levels in obese men with binge eating
(group 4, n = 2,739). In women, all overall group comparisons
were significant; post-hoc comparisons were significant
except for groups 2 and 3. Impairment was lowest in group 1
(n = 39,198), second lowest in group 2 (n = 16,625), higher
group 3 (n = 2,674), and highest in group 4 (n = 4,176).
Findings suggest that employee assistance programs should
focus on individuals who binge eat as a potentially important
at risk subgroup among those with BMI > 30.
38
A COMPARISON OF RISK CORRELATES ASSOCIATED
WITH EATING DISORDERS IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED
STATES
Kathleen M Pike
1
, Anja Hilbert
2
, Mirai So
3
, Tomoko
Shimanouchi
3
, Hiroko Maekawa
4
, Denise Wilfley
5
, Chris
Fairburn
6
, B. Timothy Walsh
1
, Ruth Streigel
7
1
Columbia University, NY, NY, USA,
2
University of Leipzig,
Leipzig, Germany,
3
Keio University, Tokyo, Japan,
4
Kanazawa
University, Tokyo, Japan,
5
Washington University in St. Louis,
St. Louis, MO, USA,
6
Oxford University , Oxford, United
Kingdom,
7
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
Introduction:
Strober & Johnson (2012) have poignantly
argued that advancing our understanding of eating disorders
requires an appreciation of the intricacies and complexities
of biological, developmental and environmental factors.
Cross-cultural comparisons contribute to this knowledge base
by identifying shared and unique patterns of risk correlates
for the same phenotypes across cultures. Although eating
disorders have been described in Japan for decades, we
have no direct comparisons of risk correlates for AN and BN
in Japan to the US.
Methods:
This study utilized the
Risk
Factors Interview
(RFI, Fairburn et al, 1999) to assess a
broad range of risk correlates identified by Japanese women
with AN (N=60) and BN (N=36) compared to American
women with AN (N=71) and BN (N=66).
Results:
Japanese
and American women reported remarkably similar patterns of
risk correlates across domains of health, family functioning,
bullying and abuse; however, the Japanese women with AN
reported lower rates of negative affectivity and perfectionism
and fewer conflicts in familial relations than American women
with AN. Japanese women with BN reported significantly
lower rates of substance abuse problems and familial
weight and dieting issues than the American women with
BN.
Discussion:
Many risk patterns appear to transcend
culture although certain important differences exist that have
implications for future research and clinical interventions.
39
The Genetic Architectures of Psychiatric
Disorder
Patrick F. Sullivan, MD, FRANZC
University of North Carolina,
Psychiatric disorders are among the most intractable
enigmas in medicine. In the past 5 years, there has been
unprecedented progress on the genetics of many of these
conditions. In this talk, I will discuss the genetics of nine
cardinal psychiatric disorders (namely, Alzheimer’s disease,
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcohol dependence,
anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar
disorder, major depressive disorder, nicotine dependence
and schizophrenia). Empirical approaches have yielded new
hypotheses about aetiology and now provide data on the
often debated genetic architectures of these conditions, which
have implications for future research strategies. Further study
using a balanced portfolio of methods to assess multiple
forms of genetic variation is likely to yield many additional
new findings.
PLENARY/ORAL ABSTRACTS