Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Siblings of people with anorexia nervosa (AN) have been found to experience strong emotions, changing family roles and poorer wellbeing as a consequence of experiencing the effects of the illness on their sibling and family system. These factors, combined with genetic influences, may put siblings at an increased risk of developing eating disorder psychopathology in addition to other mental health issues. This research aims to explore the experiences of siblings of people with AN who have had eating difficulties themselves and investigate issues that may be important to the development and prevention of eating difficulties in this population. This qualitative study used a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Ten adults who had witnessed a sibling with AN and experienced eating difficulties themselves participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants’ own eating difficulties were affected by the specific experience of witnessing a sibling with AN through mealtimes becoming emotionally charged, an increased focus on body size and diet, and comparisons with their sibling. Difficult experiences, such as marital discord amongst parents were common, as was a difficulty in managing emotions. The onset of AN within the family caused participants to take on caring responsibilities for their sibling and to hide their own difficulties for fear of adding additional burden to their parents. This reduced their perceived ability to access support and for some increased a desire to restrict as a coping mechanism for the stress they were experiencing. Systemic beliefs regarding the value of thinness were prevalent and influential. Protective factors, such as not wanting to become as unwell as a sibling with AN and an understanding of the negative consequences of AN, aided recovery. Eating difficulties in siblings of people with AN may be influenced by competition for slimness, increased focus on diet and body size, and a need to manage difficult emotions. The disruption to social connections and a difficulty finding emotional support that may be experienced by people when a sibling develops AN may further influence susceptibility to eating difficulties. Further research is needed into the best ways to support siblings of people with AN. This research investigates the experiences of people who have had a sibling with anorexia and had some eating difficulties themselves. Participants described difficult emotions after their sibling developed anorexia and many took on responsibility for helping their sibling. This was a stressful experience which some people managed by restricting their own eating. There was an increased focus on food and body size in the home, and this could also influence participants’ diet. Getting help could be difficult as participants did not want to burden their family with their own difficulties. This research concludes that when treating people with anorexia, the impact on siblings should be considered, and support should be offered to siblings to help them to manage the difficulties that this illness presents.

Body image and disordered eating research has focused mostly on the female experience. The present study examined gender differences in the relationship between personality, disordered eating, and body image dissatisfaction. Participants were 238 female and 85 male undergraduates (M age = 20.52 years, SD = 4.22) at a Canadian university. Materials included a battery of self-report questionnaires pertaining to personality, body image, and disordered eating. As expected, females reported more body dissatisfaction and disordered eating than males. Personality factors were found to be significantly related to the experience of body dissatisfaction in both genders. Further, several personality traits significantly contributed to the prediction of male (high Neuroticism, low Conscientiousness) and female (high Neuroticism) body dissatisfaction beyond the influence of body mass index (BMI). Interestingly, and contrary to findings with female participants, personality traits were not significantly related to disordered eating scores in men. Among women, disordered eating scores were significantly predicted by high Neuroticism and Extraversion, and low Conscientiousness. Although the relationship between disordered eating, body image dissatisfaction, and personality is well-documented in females, this relation may differ for males. The focus on male body image has been increasing in Western society; exploring how males view their bodies may be beneficial to researchers and clinicians alike.

Individuals with eating disorders (ED) experience prolonged malnutrition, binge episodes, and compensatory behaviours that affect every organ system. Psychological and physiological symptoms are worsened with comorbid dysfunctional exercise, seen in up to 80% of those with an ED. Although return to exercise is an important component of treatment and recovery, little is known about the contraindications and risks of exercise engagement specific to those with an ED. This paper provides a comprehensive narrative review of the medical and physiological complications of engaging in exercise during ED treatment and outlines when exercise may be contraindicated or used in modified or cautionary ways. We conducted a literature search on MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsychArticles to identify relevant articles, which yielded six categories of medical and physiological complications of ED that may be exacerbated by exercise: energy availability, cardiovascular health, electrolyte abnormalities, biomedical function markers, sex hormones, and body composition. We summarize the evidence for these complications for readers and offer an initial set of recommendations for incorporating exercise during ED treatment based on our findings. This review may serve as a resource for members of ED treatment teams to help evaluate more readily and confidently whether exercise is safe for individual patients and when modifications and caution may be warranted. Dysfunctional exercise (DEX) is a symptom of eating disorders (ED) that precedes, maintains and exacerbates ED pathology. Health professionals struggle to clinically address and manage DEX as little information is available about its assessment and safe management. The current review provides a comprehensive summary of the medical and physiological complications of ED that may be exacerbated by exercise and outlines when exercise may be contraindicated or used in a modified or cautionary way. The literature review yielded six categories of complications: energy availability, cardiovascular health, electrolyte abnormalities, biomedical function markers, sex hormones, and body composition. We summarize the evidence for these complications for readers and offer an initial set of recommendations for incorporating exercise during ED treatment based on our findings. This review may serve as a resource for members of ED treatment teams to help evaluate more readily and confidently whether exercise is safe for individual patients and when modifications and caution may be warranted.