Mental health professional have long wondered about the possible link between ADHD in adolescent girls and eating disorders. An article published in Medical News Today, March 17, 2009, examines this issue. The article reports on a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. The researchers studied "..and ethnically diverse sample of 228 girls in the San Francisco Bay area; 140 who had been diagnosed with ADHD and 88 matched comparison girls without ADHD. They were first assessed between the ages of 6 and 12 and again five years later." The results were surprising and disturbing. "Girls with the "combined type" of ADHD (those with both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity) were most likely to have adolescent bulimia nervosa symptoms, relative to girls with the "inattentive type" of ADHD (those with inattention only) and girls without ADHD. Girls with both types of ADHD were more likely to be overweight, to have experienced harsh/critical parenting in childhood, and to have been peer-rejected than girls without ADHD....[which] could contribute to the bulimia nervosa symptoms." The implications of this study are significant. First, the results of the study reinforce the idea and ADHD and eating disorders in children continue to be a major public health challenge. The researches not that "...ADHD is a disorder that affects about 5 percent of school-age children, and three times more boys than girls. Symptoms include a short attention span, poor organization, excessive talking, disruptive and aggressive behavior, restlessness and irritability. Many children with ADHD suffer through a range of problems, from poor grades to poor relations with parents and teachers, and more than half have serious problems making friends...[and] eating disorders occur 10 times more often in girls than boys." Second, mental health professionals who treat ADHD adolescent girls should screen all these patient for the presence of an eating disorders. And, third, parents of ADHD adolescent girls should watch for an emerging signs or symptoms of an eating disorder in their ADHD child.
The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that ADHD adolescent girls are are significant risk of developing an eating disorder.
Resources:
How to Understand Eating Disorder. Watch this top rated video from Youtube:
Four Great Books on Eating Disorders:
- Overcoming Eating Disorder (ED): A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-Eating Disorder Client Workbook (Treatments That Work) by W. Stewart Agras and Robin F. Apple (Paperback - Nov 18, 2004)
- Overcoming Your Eating Disorder: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach for Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-Eating Disorder, Guided Self Help Workbook (Treatments That Work) by W. Stuart Agras and Robin Apple (Paperback - Sep 17, 2007)
- Overcoming Eating Disorders: Recovery from Anorexia, Bulimia, and Compulsive Overeating by Kathleen Zraly and David Swift (Paperback - Oct 1992)
- My Thin Excuse: Understanding, Recognizing, And Overcoming Eating Disorders by Lisa Messinger and Merle Cantor Goldberg (Paperback - Sep 30, 2006)
Resource and Support Groups for Eating Disorders:
- Anorexics Anonymous
- Eating Disorder Recovery
- Something Fishy
- Be Totally Free
- Caringonline
- Center for Emotional Wellbeing
- EDreferral.com
- National Eating Disorders Association
- About.com: Eating Disorders
- ANAD
- The Anorexia Online Support Group
- Eating Disorders Resources
Resources:
Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:
Additional Resources:
- For related articles on eating disorders on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
- For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog, go to “Psychiatric Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia” or type in the keyword “eating disorders” into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
- For related articles from Psychology Today, click on the “Psychology Today” banner in the side bar and type in the keyword, “eating disorders” into the Psychology Today “Search”.
- For more books with related content, click any hyperlinked keyword in the blog or type in the keyword, “eating disorders” into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.
Sources: Original Article, National Institute of Mental Health, See blogposts in: Psychiatric Disorders: Anorexia and Bulima, and Youtube
Dr. Tanya Korkosz