Category: Eating Disorders
Kara A. Christensen, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Kyle De Young, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Associate Professor
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Kara A. Christensen, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Christina Ralph-Nearman, Ph.D.
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Shruti S. Kinkel-Ram, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Elizabeth Lampe, M.S. (she/her/hers)
Doctoral Student
Drexel University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Christopher Mancuso, M.S.
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Emerging research suggests that sleep problems, such as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early morning awakening, and parasomnias, are often common and impairing among people with eating disorders (EDs) (e.g., Allison et al., 2016; Cooper et al., 2020). For example, in one study of women receiving outpatient treatment for EDs, sleep problems were reported by over half of the sample, with a higher prevalence among people with binge and purge symptoms (Kim et al., 2010). Understanding sleep problems among people with EDs is of high importance for multiple reasons. First, poor sleep is associated with poorer physical health outcomes, such as hypertension (Li et al., 2021) and diabetes (Anothaisintawee et al., 2016), and reduced well-being (e.g., Kyle et al., 2010). Second, sleep problems are well-established as both risk and maintenance factors of psychopathology. Meta-analytic studies have found that insomnia is prospectively and concurrently associated with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance-use disorders (Li et al., 2016; Hertenstein et al., 2019; Thun et al., 2019). Furthermore, sleep problems are associated with poorer treatment outcomes for internalizing disorders and increase risk of relapse, even after successful treatment (e.g., Babson et al., 2013; Chen et al., 2017; Manber et al., 2008; Ohayon and Roth, 2003; Short et al., 2017).
Despite the significant concerns posed by poor sleep and converging evidence from other forms of psychopathology, sleep problems among people with EDs remain relatively understudied and poorly characterized. Many questions remain, including the specific nature of sleep problems experienced by people with EDs, ED-specific risk factors for poor sleep, the impact of sleep problems on ED severity and treatment, and the best ways to intervene on sleep problems in this population. In this symposium, five researchers present findings addressing these important questions bridging the fields of sleep science and EDs. The first three talks will examine characteristics of sleep disturbance and potential mechanisms underlying sleep problems among people with EDs. First, Dr. Christina Ralph-Nearman will present findings on sleep disturbances and PTSD symptoms in a large (N = 1147) sample of people with an ED. Second, Shruti Kinkel-Ram will present on sleep problems in servicemembers and veterans using between-subjects, contemporaneous, and temporal group-level networks of sleep and eating disorder symptom networks. Third, Dr. Kara Christensen will present work highlighting weight bias internalization as a potential mechanism underlying sleep disparities in people with disordered eating. The final two talks will examine sleep in the context of treatment. Elizabeth Lampe will share findings on baseline sleep efficiency as a predictor of end-of-treatment loss-of-control eating among adults receiving CBT for binge eating. Christopher Mancuso will present the results of a randomized cross-over treatment trial of bright light therapy for non-underweight binge-spectrum EDs. Finally, Dr. Kyle De Young, an expert in the intersection between EDs and circadian dysfunction (De Young & Bottera, 2022) will serve as the discussant for the symposium.
