Purging and nonpurging forms of bulimia nervosa in a community sample

✍ Scribed by Garfinkel, Paul E. ;Lin, Elizabeth ;Goering, Paula ;Spegg, Cathy ;Goldbloom, David S. ;Kennedy, Sidney ;Kaplan, Allan S. ;Woodside, D. Blake

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 579 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199611)20:3<231::aid-eat2>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

Objective: Recent consensus on the subclassification of the eating disorder bulimia nervosa into purging and nonpurging forms is examined in the context of a large psychiatric epidemiological survey in Ontario, Canada. Method: Among a sample of 8,116 individuals, 62 met criteria for bulimia nervosa. Of these, the 17 who were of the purging subtype could be distinguished from the nonpurging group on a variety of parameters of comorbidity, family history, and childhood environment. Results: The purging subtype was distinguishable on the basis of early age of onset, and high rates of affective disorders and anxiety and alcoholism, sexual abuse, and parental discord. Discussion: The data support the taxonomy and point to the need for better understanding of the meaning of purging behavior. 0