Broad and Narrow Transdiagnostic Risk Factors in Eating Disorders: A Preliminary Study on an Italian Clinical Sample

Sara Iannattone, Silvia Cerea, Eleonora Carraro, Marta Ghisi and Gioia Bottesi
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Sara Iannattone: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Silvia Cerea: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Eleonora Carraro: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Marta Ghisi: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
Gioia Bottesi: Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Eating disorders are multifaceted psychopathologies and the transdiagnostic approach is currently considered a useful framework to understand their complexity. This preliminary study aimed to investigate both broad (i.e., intolerance of uncertainty and emotion dysregulation) and narrow (i.e., extreme body dissatisfaction) transdiagnostic risk factors underlying eating disorders. 50 Italian female patients seeking treatment for an eating disorder were involved ( M age = 31.6 years ± 12.8, 18–65). They completed self-report measures assessing emotion regulation difficulties, intolerance of uncertainty, extreme body dissatisfaction, general psychological distress, and eating disorder symptomatology. To explore whether the abovementioned transdiagnostic factors predicted patients’ psychological distress and eating disorder symptoms, two linear regressions were performed. Emotion dysregulation emerged as the only significant predictor of distress, while extreme body dissatisfaction was the only significant predictor of overall eating disorder symptomatology. Then, to analyze the differences between patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation problems, t -tests were conducted. The two groups differed significantly in intolerance of uncertainty levels only, with higher scores obtained by patients with anorexia nervosa. Overall, our findings suggest that emotion dysregulation and extreme body dissatisfaction may be relevant constructs in eating disorders in general, while intolerance of uncertainty may be more involved in restrictive eating disorders. The clinical implications of such results are discussed.

Keywords: eating disorders; intolerance of uncertainty; emotion dysregulation; transdiagnostic factors; patients; body image (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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