Dietary restraint patterns and eating disorder help-seeking

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Eating disorders (EDs) present significant public health challenges.
• Help-seeking for EDs is influenced by various psychosocial factors.
• Understanding gender-specific barriers and facilitators is critical for effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gender differences in the associations between eating disorder (ED) stigma, negative affect, and perceived treatment need.
• To examine these associations as a function of distinct dietary restraint patterns identified through empirical classification.
• To inform targeted interventions for improving ED help-seeking rates.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 2215 women and 986 men from three universities.
• Utilized online surveys to collect data on ED symptoms, affect, and help-seeking behaviors.
• Employed structural equation mixture modeling to identify dietary restraint classes and test associations.

Main Results:

• Five dietary restraint symptoms clustered into four classes for women and three for men, showing distinct patterns.
• Generally opposite associations were observed between ED help-seeking barriers/facilitators for women and men across classes.
• Specific associations between ED stigma, negative affect, and perceived treatment need varied significantly by gender and restraint severity class.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight significant gender differences in the interplay of ED stigma, negative affect, and perceived treatment need.
• Dietary restraint patterns moderate these associations differently for men and women.
• This research can enhance the reach and effectiveness of ED intervention efforts, potentially increasing help-seeking rates.