Anxiety And Eating Disorder Essay

In cases where children do have an eating disorder, it is not uncommon for them to also have another disorder like anxiety or depression. In the study “Eating Disorders with and without Comorbid Depression and Anxiety: Similarities and Differences in a Clinical Sample of Children and Adolescents”, researchers looked to see if there were any differences or similarities between those who had an eating disorder like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa paired with a disorder like anxiety or depression (). They hypothesized that those with an eating disorder and anxiety or depression would have a more severe presentation of symptoms than those who merely have an eating disorder. They got their sample group the Eating Disorders Program at the University of Chicago. The children had a diagnosis of either

Lastly, they used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale which measured a participant’s self-esteem. Treatment history of the participants was collected as well. After the researchers went through the data they collected they found that within the sample “217 had no comorbid diagnosis (Group ‘ED Only’), 32 had a comorbid anxiety disorder (Group ‘ED+A’), 86 had a comorbid mood disorder (Group ‘ED+M’) and 36 had both comorbid anxiety and mood disorders (Group ‘ED+AM’)” (). Their results showed that participants who had only an eating disorder and those who had an eating disorder and anxiety were very similar in behaviors and patterns. They also found that those who had an eating disorder coupled with depression displayed similar behaviors and patterns to those who had an eating disorder coupled with both depression and anxiety. In addition, those who had a comorbid of depression or depression and anxiety displayed the most severe symptoms, such as bingeing, purging, restraints on their diet, and feelings of concern about the shape and weight of their body