Eating disturbances in female prisoners: the role of anger

Women in prison have high levels of impulsive damaging behaviours, including disordered eating. In addition, they display pathological levels of the emotional precursors that have been associated with eating disorders, particularly anger. The present study examines levels of disordered eating behaviours in female prisoners, and whether those behaviours are associated with anger. The sample consisted of 91 sentenced women at a medium-sized prison in the UK. The women completed an interview-based screening tool for eating disorders, alongside a standardised measure of anger. Using the established cut-off on the measure concerned, 25% of the women were at risk for an eating disorder. This prevalence rate is exactly twice that observed in a non-eating-disordered community sample, using the same measure. Furthermore, different facets of anger were associated with different aspects of eating psychopathology. The most plausible explanation for this association appears to be that many women enter prison with high levels of anger-driven impulsivity, and that the constraints of the prison environment result in a focus on eating behaviours. Future research directions are discussed.