Binge eating disorder versus overeating: a failure to replicate and common factors in severely obese treatment seeking women.

The disordered eating symptoms, general psychopathology and dieting history among obese women diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and obese women who overeat (OE) are examined. One hundred and thirty women (n=83 with BED and n=47 who overeat) seeking treatment for an eating disorder were diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria and the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE). They also completed a battery of psychometric tests. Despite adequate statistical power to detect differences, MANOVAs revealed very few significant differences between the groups. Loss of control of eating does not adequately differentiate these two groups within an eating disorders treatment-seeking context. It is likely that only the most acutely distressed from each group is seeking treatment, so that differences found in a community sample would not be found. Using a principal components analysis, factors within each group that may underlie the common psychopathology of both groups (i.e. disordered eating symptoms, general psychopathology and dieting history) were found.