This is a revised submission of a proposal to conduct secondary analyses of alcoholism (ALC) in women with eating disorders (EDs). The co-occurrence of ALC and EDs has been well documented. To date, there have been no prospective studies reporting on the course and sequence of comorbid EDs and ALC.
The aims of this study are to 1) describe the association between ALC and EDs 2) examine the longitudinal sequence of comorbidity in terms of onset, remission, relapse, and mortality and 3) test a conceptual model that describes the nature of the association between ALC and EDs. The data will also allow for the analysis of longitudinal patterns of alcohol consumption in women with ALC and EDs. ? ? A longitudinal, prospective, naturalistic study of 246 treatment-seeking women with AN and BN has been conducted for a median of 9 years with a low attrition rate of 7%. Extensive data on weekly assessments of ED symptomatology, ALC, comorbid psychopathology, and treatment participation, as well as monthly ratings of psychosocial functioning have been gathered. ? ? At entry into the longitudinal study, 42 (17%) participants reported a history of ALC. During the course of 9-year follow-up, 24 (12%) of the women with no history of ALC were diagnosed with ALC prospectively, resulting in a total of 66 (27%) women reporting a lifetime history of ALC in the sample. During the course of follow-up, 6 women from this subset have died, resulting in 60 remaining subjects with a lifetime history of ALC2 Preliminary analyses show fatal outcome was associated with severity of ALC over the course of follow-up, even after controlling for age and duration of ED episode at intake (LRT = 11.0, df= 1, p = .0009). [Lifetime history of ALC was marked in three of the four deaths by suicide, and severity of ALC over the course of the study was associated with increased rates of suicide attempts in women with AN (LRT = 7.02, df = 1, p = .008).] ? ? Findings from this study will inform clinicians and patients about the nature of the association between ALC land EDs, underscore interactions between course and outcome variables, and assist in the design of future ALC and ED treatment studies. ? ?
| Morrow, A Leslie; Biggio, Giovanni; Serra, Mariangela et al. (2009) The role of neuroactive steroids in ethanol/stress interactions: proceedings of symposium VII at the Volterra conference on alcohol and stress, May 2008. Alcohol 43:521-30 |
| Thompson-Brenner, Heather; Eddy, Kamryn T; Franko, Debra L et al. (2008) A personality classification system for eating disorders: a longitudinal study. Compr Psychiatry 49:551-60 |
| Franko, Debra L; Dorer, David J; Keel, Pamela K et al. (2005) How do eating disorders and alcohol use disorder influence each other? Int J Eat Disord 38:200-7 |
