Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-11T03:42:30.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Binge-eating and vomiting: a survey of a college population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Katherine A. Halmi ,
James R. Falk  and
Estelle Schwartz
Katherine A. Halmi*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, USA
James R. Falk
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, USA
Estelle Schwartz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr K. A. Halmi, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

A survey of 355 college students was carried out to determine the prevalence of the psychiatric disorder bulimia (the binge-eating syndrome). Results of the survey indicate that, within the normal college population, 13% experienced all of the major symptoms of bulimia as outlined in the DSM-III. Within the bulimic population, 87% were females (19% of the female population) and 13% were males (5% of the male population). Although self-induced vomiting may accompany other symptoms of bulimia, the results suggest that self-induced vomiting is not a necessary symptom for diagnosis. A significant relationship between laxative use and self-induced vomiting was detected. These forms of behaviour, termed purging behaviour, occurred in an average of 10% of the students. Individuals who experienced the symptoms of bulimia had a history of being overweight or tended to be in the upper portion of their normal weight range (age, sex, and weight corrected) when compared with those individuals who had not experienced the symptoms of bulimia. No significant weight history differences were detected between vomiters and non-vomiters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1981 , pp. 697 - 706
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Beumont, P. J. V. (1977). Further categorization of patients with anorexia nervosa. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 11, 223–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beumont, P. J. V., George, G. C. W. & Smart, D. E. (1976). ‘Dieters’ and ‘vomiters and purgers’ in anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 6, 617–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boskind-Lodahl, M. & White, W. C. (1978). The definition and treatment of bulimarexia in college women – a pilot study. Journal of the American College Health Association 27, 84–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Casper, R. C., Eckert, E. D., Halmi, K. A., Goldberg, S. C. & Davis, J. M. (1980). The incidence and clinical significance of bulimia in patients with anorexia nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry 37, 1030–1035.Google Scholar
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition) (1980). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hsu, L. K. G., Crisp, A. H. & Harding, B. (1979). Outcome of anorexia nervosa. Lancet i, 61–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monti, P. M., McCrady, B. S. & Barlow, D. H. (1977). Effect of positive reinforcement, informational feedback, and contingency contracting on a bulimic anorexic female. Behavior Therapy 8, 258–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nogami, Y. & Yabana, F. (1977). On kibarashi-gui (binge eating). Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica 31, 159–166.Google ScholarPubMed
Pyle, R. L., Mitchell, J. E. & Eckert, E. D. (1981). Bulimia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (in the press).Google Scholar
Roberts, S. W. (1977). Nutrition Assessment Manual. University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Russell, G. (1979). Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 9, 429–448.Google Scholar
Strangler, R. S.. & Printz, A. M. (1980). DSM-III: psychiatric diagnosis in a university population. American Journal of Psychiatry 137, 937–940.Google Scholar
Wermuth, B. M., Davis, K. L., Hollister, L. E. & Stunkard, A. J. (1977). Phenytonin treatment of the binge-eating syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry 134, 1249–1253.Google Scholar
White, W. C. & Boskind-White, M. (1981). An experimental – behavioral approach to the treatment of bulimarexia. Journal of Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice (in the press).Google Scholar