Eating pathology among women with alcoholism and/or anxiety disorders

Two hundred one non-treatment seeking women with alcoholism, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and anxiety disorders, or neither alcoholism nor anxiety disorders were interviewed to assess core psychopathology associated with eating disorders using the Eating Disorders Examination and DSM-IIIR psychiatric diagnoses using the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime version. Alcoholic women had significantly higher mean scores on each of the Eating Disorders Examination subscales of Restraint, Overeating, Eating Concern, Shape Concern, and Weight Concern compared with nonalcoholic women. Women with anxiety disorders had significantly elevated scores on subscales of Overeating, Eating Concern, and Weight Concern compared with women without anxiety disorders. Women with both alcoholism and anxiety disorders had higher rates of bulimia nervosa and/or eating disorder NOS compared with women with either disorder alone. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the co-morbid association between alcoholism, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders.