About This Project
Purging Disorder is a little understood eating disorder characterized by purging (e.g., vomiting) in normal weight individuals who do not experience binge eating. Though it has existed for at least 30 years, it was only added to the DSM in 2013. This study will describe remission rates and identify which factors are related to recovery, informing treatment development and diagnostic schemes. We only study (and treat) what we name.Ask the Scientists
Join The DiscussionWhat is the context of this research?
- Purging disorder is characterized by recurrent purging, like vomiting, in the absence of binge eating.
- Purging disorder isn't a full-fledged diagnosis in the DSM because we don't know the prognosis, course, and likelihood of recovery from purging disorder.
- No empirically-supported treatments exist for purging disorder.
- Identifying predictors of remission, like shape concerns, feeling out of control while eating, eating a large amount of food, and dysregulated hormones like leptin and cholecystokinin, will open up potential avenues for intervention, leading to effective treatments down the road.
- We don't know if purging disorder has different remission rates or requires different treatment than bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by recurrent purging coupled with binge eating.
What is the significance of this project?
- This study will be the first to describe the outcome of purging disorder and to examine psychological and physiological predictors of purging disorder outcome at an average of 10 years later.
- Including purging disorder as a full-fledged diagnosis in future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Eating Disorders will raise awareness about this disorder associated with increased mortality.
- This study will be the first to compare the long-term outcome of purging disorder and bulimia nervosa using a longitudinal, prospective design.
- Identifying predictors of purging disorder and bulimia nervosa, including hormonal predictors such as leptin and cholecystokinin, will allow for future treatment development.
- This study will inform future editions of the DSM.
What are the goals of the project?
I will contact 219 women who participated in 3 different studies and ask them to complete phone interviews and questionnaires. This study will answer the following questions:
- What are the remission rates for purging disorder?
- Do any of the following predict who recovers from purging disorder?
- Shape concerns?
- Frequently feeling out of control over eating?
- Eating a large amount of food?
- Having lower leptin (a hormone) levels?
- Having delayed cholecystokinin release (a hormone that makes you feel full) after eating?
- Is purging disorder different from bulimia nervosa?
Budget
The women who will be contacted will be in their mid-30s at follow-up, leading busy lives. The information gathered from this study will only be beneificial if we can get as many women as possible to participate. Offering compensation for interviews ($25 for about an hour interview) and questionnaires ($10) will maximize the number of women who participate.
This budget will allow for compensation of approximately 87 women-- a great start to an important project.
Meet the Team
Team Bio
Jean is a Legacy Fellow at Florida State University, working on her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology under Dr. Pamela Keel, the woman who named purging disorder.Jean earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology summa cum laude at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, as a Harrison Scholar in 2011, and earned her Master's Degree at Florida State University in 2013.
Jean has a 8 peer review publications studying risk and maintenance factors for eating disorders, including one paper examining what the experience of feeling out of control while eating means for women with purging disorder. Jean plans to continue her research studying the factors that maintain eating disorders, including hormonal factors, in hopes of informing more effective treatment development. For more information on her research, please see her Google Scholar and ResearchGate pages.
K. Jean Forney, M.S.
Jean is doctoral student at Florida State University and a clinical psychology intern at the University of Chicago Medicine. She will be joining the faculty of Ohio University in January 2019.
Jean earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology summa cum laude at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, as a Harrison Scholar in 2011. She will graduate from Florida State University with a PhD in Clinical Psychology in August 2018. During graduate school, she received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Institute of Mental Health. Jean's dissertation, "Longitudinal Follow-up of Purging Syndromes: Outcome and Predictors" was partially funded through experiment.com (see Long-Term Outcome of Purging Disorder).
Jean has 15 peer review publications studying risk and maintenance factors for eating disorders, including one paper examining what the experience of feeling out of control while eating means for women with purging disorder.
Jean plans to continue her research studying the factors that maintain eating disorders, including hormonal factors, in hopes of informing more effective treatment development. For more information on her research, please see her Google Scholar and ResearchGate pages.
Project Backers
- 51Backers
- 100%Funded
- $3,000Total Donations
- $58.82Average Donation